President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to promote free speech on college
campuses by threatening colleges with the loss of federal research funding
if they do not protect those rights.
"We’re here to take historic action to defend
American students and American values," Trump said, surrounded by
conservative student activists at the signing ceremony. "They’ve
been under siege."
"Under the guise of speech codes, 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," he said.
A senior administration official said the order directs
12 grant-making agencies to use their authority in coordination with the White
House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to ensure institutions that receive
federal research or education grants promote free speech and free
inquiry. White House officials have said it will apply to more than $35
billion in grants.
Public universities seeking funding would have to certify
they comply with the First Amendment, which already applies to them. Private
universities, which have more flexibility in limiting speech, would need to
commit to their own institutional rules.
"Even as universities have received billions and
billions of dollars from taxpayers, many have become increasingly hostile to
free speech and the First Amendment," Trump said.
Trump had announced that such an order was forthcoming at
the Conservative Political Action Conference last month, where he said the
directive would require colleges and universities to support free speech in
exchange for federal research dollars.
He brought on stage Hayden Williams, a conservative
activist who was attacked while working a recruitment table on campus at
the University of California-Berkeley. The video quickly went viral, with
conservatives citing it as further evidence of the stifling and
sometimes-violent atmosphere that conservatives face on campus.
“He took a punch
for all of us,” Trump said of Williams. “And we could never allow that to
happen. And here is, in closing with Hayden, here’s the good news. He’s going
to be a wealthy young man.”
“If they want our dollars, and we give it to them by the
billions, they’ve got to allow people like Hayden and many other great young
people and old people to speak,” Trump said. “Free speech. If they don’t, it
will be costly. That will be signed soon.”
Conservative commentators such as Ann Coulter and Ben
Shapiro have faced hostile atmospheres when trying to speak at universities --
particularly Berkeley, where Coulter was forced to pull out of speaking
and Shapiro faced protests that required police in
full riot gear and intense security measures.
White House officials declined to provide specific
examples about how universities could lose funding said implementation
details will be finalized in coming months.
Fox News’ Kellianne Jones, Robert Gearty and
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Adam Shaw is a reporter covering U.S. and
European politics for Fox News.. He can be reached here.
