President Donald Trump is seeking one billion dollars in damages from Harvard University, escalating a long-running confrontation between his administration and elite US universities.

This is after the New York Times reported that the White House had retreated from earlier demands for a 200 million dollars payment tied to alleged misconduct by the school.

“This case will continue until justice is served,”Trump wrote late Monday on his Truth Social platform, accusing Harvard of supplying “nonsense” to what he called the failing New York Times.

The newspaper reported earlier that day that administration officials had dropped the 200 million dollars demand amid falling approval ratings for Trump and growing political backlash over aggressive immigration enforcement and the fatal shooting of two Americans by federal agents in Minnesota.

Trump did not specify the legal basis for pursuing one billion dollars in damages. Harvard declined to comment. In a follow-up post after midnight Tuesday, Trump dismissed the Times report as “completely wrong” and demanded a correction.

Since the start of Trump’s second term, his administration has mounted an aggressive campaign against Harvard and other universities, accusing them of tolerating antisemitism allegations linked in part to campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. Conservatives have long argued that American universities marginalize right-leaning views, a grievance now amplified by allies inside the administration.

Harvard has twice sued the federal government and secured a significant legal victory in September, when a federal judge ruled that the administration had unlawfully suspended research funding. The court said antisemitism claims had been used as a “smokescreen” for an ideologically driven assault on leading US universities. While the administration has said it will appeal, most of the frozen funds have since been restored.

Unlike peers such as Columbia and Brown, Harvard has refused to reach a settlement with the White House. In December, the university announced that its president, Alan Garber, would remain in office indefinitely beyond mid-2027, extending his tenure at the wealthiest and oldest university in the US.