The Trust Agenda

Trump administration officials, particularly Secretary McMahon in Education, have driven a narrative that U.S. higher education can no longer be trusted and/or is trustable. This agenda is long-standing and Trump is not letting go, which renowned scholars Lee Bollinger (Columbia University) and Geoffrey Stone (University of Chicago) declare in their book, Academic Freedom in the Era of Trump, is equivalent to McCarthyism. There is little doubt that common factors from McCarthyism such as intentionally eroding public confidence, spurious and numerous claims, and persistence are the playbook for Trump and MAGA allies.

Documenting the crack-down on academic freedom, Scholars at Risk (SAR) reported a 50% decline in U.S. institutional autonomy from 2015 to 2025 in its latest Free to Think report. This decline is greater than countries such as Hungary and Turkey that are noted for their descent into autocracy. The debate about campus speech and who has the right to define what can be expressed began in earnest 2 years ago as the second Trump administration went into action. The American Civil Liberties identified the pro-Palestinian demonstrations of 2024 as the stimulus to what has now become Education Secretary McMahon's "Call to Action" in 2026 against "unruly and violent protestors." Many protests were characterized as fostering anti-Semitism, an approach that conflated government policies of Israel with treatment of Jewish citizens in the U.S. Institutional policies are being revisited from the 2024 student protests - some tightening time and place restrictions and others loosening them. Revisiting these policies is particular important in the face of evidence that so called "civil discourse and viewpoint diversity" policies are "part of a conservative and pro-Israel agenda - not a nonpartisan campaign."

Looking back at the pattern, it is clear that Trump administration officials attacking pro-Palestinian demonstrations, then unequivocally supporting Israel's destruction of Gaza, set up a narrative of pro-Palestinian support being anti-Semitic. The world has now realized that the Israeli government, not Jewish people, sought the goal that student protestors saw from the start - genocide. The same strategy of claiming anti-Semitism among countries striving to end the war against Iran is resulting in incalculable harm throughout the Arabian Gulf. Isn't it interesting that student activists were the first to recognize what was happening?

What to do about Trump's attempts to dismantle U.S. higher education has been a topic of discussion over the length of his first administration and is now becoming more urgent in the 2nd round. A survey of senior administrators reflected a significant level of unease as they face the 2026-27 academic year. Provosts, who trend positive, express concern over dwindling resources. Some believe that the impact of Trump's intervention in accreditation will likely be neglible, nor will it contribute to innovation. While the idea of overhauling accreditation processes might have merit, suspicion that has grown from the plethora of Education Department changes than have been antagonistic results in skepticism about anything coming from Trump and his designees. The new Education Department accreditation proposal takes authority away from existing groups under the guise of their having neglected their "position of public trust." Policy experts and accreditation officials "fear that the proposal will permanently politicize the long-standing evaluation mechanism designed to create uniform standards for American colleges and universities."

The Department of Defense (DOD) demanded records of 30 U.S. universities with international partnerships, claiming that research collaboration with entities engaged in activities that threaten the U.S. must cease. The notice required an "'immediate and comprehensive' audit of their partnerships" by the end of the month (August, 2026). Within a matter of days, UNC shut down its partnership with Fudan University in Shanghai. Within a week, Brandeis Professors at Center for Human Rights under Law published a Chicago Tribune Opinion "Is Qatar Encouraging Antisemitism on College Campuses?" claiming that Northwestern University's Education City partnership sought to bias its students against Jews. Granted the Chicago Tribune article is an "Opinion," but it should be recognized as part of the continuing effort to disrupt Qatar's efforts to provide educational opportunity for students in the Middle East and beyond. The claim of inappropriate entanglement with foreign interests is not new and is part of the relay race of attacking higher education under the direction of the Trump administration. After criticizing elite and liberal education institutions, Department of Defense Secretary Hegseth identified five institutions where new cadet corps programs will be offered.

The state of research in higher education is being undermined on multiple fronts. Dispersal of NSF funding is over $1 billion behind. Regardless of ineptitude across current agency administrations, Trump seeks control over the granting of more funds. An Oval Office conference with OMB and NIH targeted NIH for "research projects that didn't align with the president's priorities, even though the agency has already cut multiple grants that support research in diverse communities, women's health and transgender issues." In some cases, the courts are serving as a barrier, and in the case of Education Department denials for "divisive ideologies," a Federal Judge ruled that funding had to be restored. The proposal to grant the Education Department greater authority in denying or canceling grants has drawn broad condemnation.

Elite colleges and universities were the first target - largely because their visibility makes them vulnerable and, secondarily, once the top falls, the rest are easy to take down. Serving as the primary and perpetual target, Harvard has fought back vigorously. Whether it's the AAC&U solidarity stance or other strategies to come, higher education and those who value it must come together in vocal opposition to what's happening. The podcast discussion of the AAC&U "The Trust Agenda" describes the reasons behind and the report provides a framework for how higher education can work together to combat the often unsupported and antagonistic assertions made by Trump.

Further updates to follow - watch for changes on my blog.