WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Trump signed an executive order to withhold government money from colleges that don’t promise to protect free speech.
The order affects at least $40 billion in grant and research money that federal agencies oversee.
Pres. Trump was joined at the White House by conservative students who claim their speech and advocacy was either shut down by administrators or went unprotected from intimidation by other students.
The president highlighted the case of a conservative organizer who was punched in February on the University of California, Berkeley campus.
Though the man charged in the assault is not a student, Trump called it an example of conservative thought under attack on campuses nationwide.
“Under the guise of speech codes and safe spaces and trigger warnings, these universities have tried to restrict free thought, impose total conformity, and shut down the voices of great young Americans like those here today,” the president said. “It’s great people. All of that changes starting right now. We’re dealing with billions and billions and billions of dollars.”
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