The Trump administration’s confrontation with nine of the nation’s most elite universities is more than a policy dispute; it is a litmus test for the American establishment itself. This battle pits a populist, anti-establishment political movement against the very institutions that are seen as the training grounds and cultural centers of the nation’s elite, forcing a showdown for the soul of the establishment.
On one side is the Trump administration, which has built its brand on challenging and disrupting established institutions, from the media to the federal bureaucracy. In this context, universities like Penn, Dartmouth, and MIT are prime targets. They are symbols of a liberal, globalist elite that the administration’s base views with suspicion and resentment. Attacking them is a way of attacking the establishment itself.
On the other side are the universities and their allies—the leaders of academia, culture, and business who are often products of these very schools. For them, this is a fight to defend the liberal values of free inquiry, diversity, and institutional autonomy that they believe are essential to a healthy society. They see the administration’s move as a brutish and ignorant assault on the foundations of American intellectual life.
The choice that the nine universities make will be a powerful signal about the state of the American establishment. Will it capitulate to populist pressure, trading its core values for financial security and a quiet life? Or will it stand and fight, defending its institutions even at great cost?
This conflict is a microcosm of a larger struggle playing out across the country. It is a battle between two competing visions of America, two different ideas of what constitutes legitimate authority and knowledge. The outcome of this specific battle over the university compact could be a telling indicator of which side is winning the war.