Was Donald Trump Denied Admission To Harvard? Inside The Rumors About His Vendetta

Donald Trump's hobbies seem to be golf (where he has a questionable reputation) and lashing out at perceived enemies on social media. He's recently leaned into attacking Harvard University. He's frozen federal grant money to Harvard and threatened to take away more, as well as reportedly trying to get federal contracts with Harvard shut down. He's asked to get reports for who the international students are at Harvard, and he's proposed a cap on international students or outright denying them entry. This response has come after Harvard refused to follow the Trump administration's directive to change its policies to be in line with Trump's anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion mandate.

Some think, however, that the real reason Trump is going after Harvard is because he didn't get accepted into the prestigious school. Michael Wolff, who wrote "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" and "All or Nothing: How Trump Recaptured America," said on an episode of The Daily Beast Podcast that, " ... [Trump] didn't get into Harvard. So one of the Trump things is always holding a grudge against the Ivy Leagues."

There seems to be no proof on whether Trump applied to and was rejected from Harvard or not, but plenty of people on social media seem to think that's the case. Others believe it's Trump trying to exert power and control. However, Taylor Rogers, White House assistant press secretary, responded to Wolff's claim about Trump's reported rejection from Harvard by saying: "The Daily Beast and Michael Wolff have lots in common — they both peddle fake news for clickbait in a hopeless attempt to amount to something more than lying losers. The President didn't need to apply to an overrated, corrupt institution like Harvard to become a successful businessman and the most transformative President in history" (per The Daily Beast).

Another rumor making the rounds as to why Donald Trump is salty with Harvard is because Barron Trump didn't get accepted to the institution. However, Melania Trump's team shut down the rumor that Barron didn't get into Harvard. Barron's currently a student at New York University.

While we don't know for sure if Donald did ever apply to Harvard, we do know that he went to Fordham University for two years, and then he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where he got in, reportedly, because his brother pulled some strings and got him an interview with a friend in the admissions office. That friend, James Nolan, recalled meeting with Donald to The Washington Post and told the outlet in 2019, "I certainly was not struck by any sense that I'm sitting before a genius. Certainly not a super genius." Additionally, one of Donald's professors at Wharton apparently referred to him as, shall we say, not the best student, and Donald's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen said that the president had threatened his former schools to not release his grades.

As Donald has raged against Harvard, people on social media have been posting about the Obamas. Both Barack Obama and Michelle Obama went to Harvard Law School, and Malia Obama went to Harvard for undergrad. Before entering politics, Donald spent a lot of time questioning how Barack had gotten into Harvard, even at one point offering $5 million to charity if Barack would release his college transcripts and applications.