Trump vows “forceful” measures to combat campus antisemitism

President Donald Trump issued an executive order Wednesday that outlines several “forceful and unprecedented” steps his administration will implement to combat “the explosion of anti-Semitism on our campuses and in our streets since October 7, 2023,” according to a White House fact sheet.

The order directs the Department of Justice to take “immediate action” to “protect law and order, quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities,” the fact sheet said.

Trump vowed to protect the rights of Jewish citizens and to “deport Hamas sympathizers,” as well as revoke student visas.

Trump had promised on the campaign trail that he would “be the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House” and “quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses.”

He accused the Biden administration of turning “a blind eye” to pro-Palestinian protesters’ “coordinated assault on public order.” According to the Associated Press, the Biden administration conducted more than 100 investigations into alleged antisemitism and Islamophobia on college campuses, many of which were settled before Trump took office.

The order directs the education secretary to submit a report about all complaints and administrative active related to antisemitism, including any pending or resolved investigations within the department Office for Civil Rights.

In other education news, Trump issued an executive order prohibiting the teaching of what he considers “discriminatory equity ideology” in K-12 schools, and reinstated an order from his first term that establishes the 1776 Commission to advance “patriotic education” in public schools.