“All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” Trump posted on social media Tuesday morning. “Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

That followed a Monday release from the Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, and the General Services Administration that promised to end what they described as antisemitic harassment on college campuses.

The joint release singled out Columbia University, an Ivy League school hit with a series of pro-Palestinian protests last year that included the occupation of a building on campus, for a review of federal contracts and grants citing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

The review could see the school lose more than $51 million in federal funding, which it receives despite its status as a private university.

“Americans have watched in horror for more than a year now, as Jewish students have been assaulted and harassed on elite university campuses — repeatedly overrun by anti-Semitic students and agitators,” newly confirmed Education Secretary Linda McMahon said. “Unlawful encampments and demonstrations have completely paralyzed day-to-day campus operations, depriving Jewish students of learning opportunities to which they are entitled.”

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. compared antisemitism to racism and called it a spiritual and moral malady that sickens societies and kills people.

“In recent years, the censorship and false narratives of woke cancel culture have transformed our great universities into greenhouses for this deadly and virulent pestilence,” Kennedy said. “Making America healthy means building communities of trust and mutual respect, based on speech freedom and open debate.”

Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 29 titled “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism,” which led to the review.

Trump spends his political capital early in second term

Protests broke out across the United States following the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel, with some anti-Israel demonstrators blocking bridges and traffic and causing other disruptions.

Surgical masks, once a symbol of the COVID-19 pandemic, have been banned in many jurisdictions as people have used them to conceal their identities while committing acts of violence. Trump has now signaled he’d like to see them banned on college campuses as well.