Toggle Menu

Trump and the Universities: Submission and Resistance

On this episode of Start Making Sense, David Cole finds the unifying thread in Trump's threatened funding cuts, and David Myers comments on “protecting Jewish students” as a rationale for deporting Palestinian student activists.

Jon Wiener

March 19, 2025

Protestors gather to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil at Foley Square on March 10, 2025, in New York City.(David Dee Delgado / Getty Images)

The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Trump and the Universities: Submission and Resistance | Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

A key source of opposition to authoritarian regimes in recent history has come from universities and colleges. Trump has been attacking the independence of American universities, demanding they submit to his requirements and using massive funding cuts as his weapon. David Cole, formerly National Legal Director of the ACLU, has our analysis. 

Also: Mahmoud Khalil is the Palestinian student activist at Columbia arrested and jailed by ICE. The Trump administration intends to revoke his status as a permanent resident—a green-card holder–and deport him — they say, to protect Jewish students on campus. That’s clearly a violation of freedom of speech. But is deporting Palestinian student activists a good way to protect Jewish students? David Myers comments–he teaches Jewish history at UCLA.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

A key source of opposition to authoritarian regimes in recent history has come from universities and colleges. Trump has been attacking the independence of American universities, demanding they submit to his requirements and using massive funding cuts as his weapon. David Cole, formerly national legal director of the ACLU, has our analysis.

Also on this episode: Mahmoud Khalil is the Palestinian student activist at Columbia arrested and jailed by ICE. The Trump administration intends to revoke his status as a permanent resident, a green-card holder, and deport him—they say, to protect Jewish students on campus. That’s clearly a violation of freedom of speech. But is deporting Palestinian student activists a good way to protect Jewish students on campus? For comment we turn to David Myers—he teaches Jewish history at UCLA.Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

How Abdul El-Sayed Can Win Michigan, Plus an Election Protection Test Case / Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

The Michigan Democratic senate primary provided a test of the power of AIPAC and big money. John Nichols has our analysis.

Also: a rehearsal for the election protection groups: the California sherriff who seized 650,000 ballots from November’s referendum, claiming he needed to recount them. Zach Roth of Democracy Docket will explain how the Chad Bianco case provides a test of one key Republican strategy for holding on to the House after the midterms.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Subscribe to The Nation to Support all of our podcasts

Jon WienerTwitterJon Wiener is a contributing editor of The Nation and co-author (with Mike Davis) of Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties.


Latest from the nation