First Lady Melania Trump wasted no time Tuesday in putting an end to baseless online rumors suggesting President Trump’s tough stance on Harvard University was rooted in personal vengeance over a supposed rejection of Barron Trump’s college application.

The unfounded speculation began circulating online and was amplified by Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), who snidely posted on X: “Can’t help but wonder how many Trumps were rejected by Harvard.”

But Melania Trump’s office quickly and unequivocally debunked the claim.

“Barron did not apply to Harvard, and any assertion that he, or that anyone on his behalf, applied is completely false,” said Nicholas Clemens, Melania Trump’s communications director, according to the New York Post.

The truth? Barron Trump just finished his freshman year at New York University. And, according to President Trump, the young man had no trouble getting into the schools he aimed for.

“He’s now going to college, got into every college he wanted to,” Trump said last July, as reported by the Palm Beach Post. “He made his choice and he is a very good guy.”

The real reason for the Trump administration’s hardline approach to Harvard has nothing to do with Barron—and everything to do with the university’s increasingly radical agenda, which includes promoting divisive DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) initiatives and harboring anti-Semitic elements within its faculty and student body.

In a bold move aimed at holding the elite Ivy League institution accountable, the Trump administration is now urging federal agencies to terminate roughly $100 million in contracts with Harvard, according to the Associated Press. This follows an earlier action to rescind around $2.6 billion in federal research grants.

Harvard, unsurprisingly, is fighting back at every turn. But President Trump has made it clear he’s not backing down.

“I am considering taking Three Billion Dollars of Grant Money away from a very antisemitic Harvard, and giving it to TRADE SCHOOLS all across our land. What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!” Trump declared on Truth Social.

Trump has also taken aim at Harvard’s controversial foreign student policies and lack of transparency.

“We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Country,” he wrote, adding, “Harvard is very slow in the presentation of these documents, and probably for good reason!”

“The best thing Harvard has going for it is that they have shopped around and found the absolute best Judge (for them!) – But have no fear, the Government will, in the end, WIN!” he continued.

The financial and political heat isn’t the only fire Harvard is facing. The once-prestigious university continues to reel from reputational damage, much of it self-inflicted. First came the plagiarism scandal that forced former Harvard President Claudine Gay to step down. Now, a new academic fraud scandal has hit the school’s credibility even harder.

According to WGBH-TV, Harvard has fired prominent professor Francesca Gino and stripped her of tenure. Gino, once heralded as a leading expert on honesty and ethical behavior, now stands accused of manipulating data in her research to support predetermined conclusions. The investigation, launched in 2023, revealed serious breaches of academic integrity.

As Harvard’s ivory tower crumbles under the weight of its own hypocrisy and ideological rot, President Trump’s campaign to redirect taxpayer dollars away from corrupt institutions and toward real-world education alternatives like trade schools is resonating with millions of Americans tired of elitist double standards.

This isn’t about revenge. It’s about restoring accountability, merit, and moral clarity in America’s higher education system.