Jeffrey Sachs decries pressure on universities from the White House

Columbia University professor and acclaimed economist Jeffrey D. Sachs says that while university donors tend to be more respectful of political dissent on American campuses, it is the Donald Trump administration that is increasingly curbing freedom of speech by pressuring universities and accusing them of promoting anti-Semitism—apparently at the behest of Israeli lobby groups.

“The attack on the universities is coming more from the US government than from the university donors (who have diverse views on Israel and Palestine),” he told Open, adding that “the pressure from the federal government reflects the power of the Israel Lobby, which is very different from the (diverse) Jewish community.” He spoke to Open shortly after the US government extracted concessions from Columbia University as a precondition for restoring $400 million in federal funding, which had been recently halted over allegations that the institution tolerated antisemitism.

In exchange for the resumption of federal funds, Columbia University agreed to ban face masks on campus and transfer control of its Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies department from faculty to a newly appointed official.

Sachs, a University Professor and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, stated, “In fact, the pressure from the White House is extreme and also due to the particularities of the President.” He has previously criticised Trump for making what he described as outrageous demands regarding the Panama Canal, Canada, and Greenland. A vocal opponent of Trump’s tariff policies, Sachs has argued that such an aggressive approach is doomed to fail, as the President overestimates the influence of American markets.

Sachs, who formerly directed Columbia University’s Earth Institute and has advised three United Nations Secretaries-General, also accused Trump of encroaching on the US Constitution. “Many of the actions by the Trump administration are unconstitutional or illegal in my view, but the universities are afraid to make legal or political protests because they fear extreme retribution from the White House, such as a complete cutoff of government grants,” he said.

An alumnus of Harvard University, where he earned his BA, MA, and PhD, Sachs is the author of several bestselling books and a widely sought-after commentator on geopolitics. Of Jewish origin, Sachs has long been a vocal critic of the Israel Lobby, which he believes has manipulated American politicians for far too long. He has repeatedly maintained that Israel should not dictate American foreign policy—America should.

Columbia UniversityDonald TrumpIsrael lobbyJeffrey SachsUS politicsUS universitiesWeb ExclusiveWhite House