After Harvard refused to accept far-reaching policy changes ordered by the White House, President Donald Trump threatened to strip the elite university of its tax-exempt status.

Trump said Harvard "should lose its tax-exempt status and be taxed as a political entity" if the university does not agree to his demands to change how it runs itself, which would include a selection of students and authority for professors.

Tax-exempt status is "totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST," he said in the post on Truth Social.

In a letter to students and faculty, Harvard President Alan Garber vowed to defy the government and said the school would not "negotiate over its independence or its constitutional rights."

Last Friday, the Trump administration sent a letter to Harvard University- a 140-year-old university- asking it to end its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in hiring, admissions, and programs.

The letter also called on the university to reduce the power of students and faculty members over the university's affairs.

It demanded the systematic screening of student organizations and international students, a move supposedly aimed at curtailing antisemitism on campus.

The administration's demands also include sharing its hiring data with the government and bringing in an outside party to ensure that each academic department is "viewpoint diverse."

The failure to comply could result in the loss of billions in federal funding, the administration warned.

Harvard responded swiftly, and by Monday, America's wealthiest university unequivocally rejected the administration's demands.

The institution said it will not comply with demands issued by the Trump administration as they are "in contravention of the First Amendment," and "invade university freedoms long recognised by the Supreme Court."