Melania Trump: Husband's Harvard Battle Not About Barron

First lady Melania Trump is denying claims being made on the internet that her husband is battling with Harvard University because the Ivy League school rejected their son Barron last year.

"Barron did not apply to Harvard, and any assertion that he, or that anyone on his behalf, applied is completely false," her spokesperson, Nick Clemens, said in a statement to The Palm Beach Post Tuesday.

Rumors began circulating about President Donald Trump's motives last week after he froze $2.65 billion in grants and attempted a block on allowing international students from enrolling at the school. A judge has put a temporary hold on the international students matter after Harvard filed a lawsuit against the move.

On X, users suggested that Trump was fighting Harvard not only because it rejected his youngest son, but because he was jealous that former President Barack Obama's daughter Malia graduated from there.

Last fall, while still campaigning for office, Trump said his youngest son would be attending New York University's Stern School as a business major. He also said that Barron, who graduated from Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida, last May, was "accepted to a lot of colleges," reports The Independent.

Trump initially said that his son intended to attend his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, but decided on NYU instead.

Trump's attacks on Harvard continued Tuesday, when the administration said it would slash some $100 million in contracts with Harvard as it continues to refuse to accept his demands.

Harvard last week said it would sue the White House for a First Amendment violation after it tried to eliminate the student visa exchange program.

Harvard's lawyers last month also defended the school after Trump demanded a crackdown on antisemitism, and on Tuesday, Harvard President Alan Garber encouraged other universities to stand firm against Trump.

"I think we all need to redouble our commitment to the good of the nation and the world. And I know my fellow leaders fully embrace that," he said in an interview on NPR.

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