Hello and welcome to the GZero World podcast.

This is where you can find extended versions of my show on public television.

I'm Ian Bremmer, and this week we are looking at the future of higher education under the Trump administration.

Over the past few months, President Trump has waged a war of words, executive orders, and lawsuits against elite universities like

Columbia and Harvard. At the same time, ICE agents have targeted international students,

especially those who have spoken out against Israel in a series of high-profile arrests.

In late July, a federal judge appeared skeptical of the Trump administration's efforts to strip Harvard University of billions of dollars in research funding.

But she likely won't rule on that lawsuit until early September.

And even if Harvard survives that legal battle, and they surely will,

it will be far from the last.

And just days later, Columbia agreed to pay over $220 million in a deal with the Trump

administration to restore federal funding. My guest today, Noah Feldman, is a Harvard law professor

who argues that President Trump's attacks against his institution constitute a war on truth.

He's doubtful of the Trump administration's charges of anti-Semitism at Harvard as a rationale for its increased pressure.

So let's get to it. Here's my conversation with Noah Feldman.

Music Noah Feldman. Thanks for joining on GZER World. Thank you for having me.

Start with a simple question.

Why is President Trump prioritizing a fight against higher education

in the United States? I think Donald Trump is very committed to his own view of the world,

and that view is often at odds with what institutions say is the truth, and institutions are the

most effective way to convince people that something actually is true.

And so Trump's gone after universities. He's gone after media and he's going after courts

...