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The Department of War said Friday that it will end all professional military education, fellowships and certificate programs with Harvard University.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth slammed the university in a video announcement posted on X, saying the department would be cutting ties with Harvard for active-duty service members beginning in the 2026–27 school year — a move he said was "long overdue."

"Harvard is woke; The War Department is not," Hegseth stated.

While Hegseth, who has a master’s degree from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, said the U.S. military has had a "rich tradition" with the Ivy League school, he argued that Harvard has become one of the "red-hot centers of Hate America activism."

HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL ANNOUNCES LAYOFFS AFTER TRUMP CUTS BILLIONS IN FUNDING

"Too many faculty members openly loathe our military. They cast our armed forces in a negative light and squelch anyone who challenges their leftist political leanings, all while charging enormous tuition. It's not worth it," he said.
"They’ve replaced open inquiry and honest debate with rigid orthodoxy."

The announcement comes amid the Trump administration’s ongoing feud with the Ivy League school.

President Donald Trump said Monday he is seeking $1 billion in damages from Harvard University, which the Trump administration has made a primary target in its effort to leverage federal funding to crack down on antisemitism and "woke" ideology.

40-YEAR HARVARD PROFESSOR PENS SCATHING PIECE ON SCHOOL'S 'EXCLUSION OF WHITE MALES,' ANTI-WESTERN TRENDS

Lawyers for the Trump administration have appealed a judge’s order requiring the restoration of $2.7 billion in frozen federal research funding to Harvard. The university sued the administration in April over the funding freeze, arguing in court that the move amounted to an unconstitutional "pressure campaign" aimed at influencing and exerting control over elite academic institutions.

Hegseth also criticized Harvard’s campus environment, alleging that research programs have partnered with the Chinese Communist Party and that university leadership has encouraged an atmosphere that celebrates Hamas, allows attacks on Jews, and prioritizes Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.

"Why should the War Department support an environment that's destructive to our nation and the principles that the vast majority of Americans hold dear?" Hegseth said.
"The answer to that question is that we should not, and we will not."

HARVARD DEAN REMOVED AFTER ANTI-WHITE, ANTI-POLICE SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS RESURFACED

"For too long, this department has sent our best and brightest officers to Harvard, hoping the university would better understand and appreciate our warrior class," he continued. "Instead, too many of our officers came back looking too much like Harvard — heads full of globalist and radical ideologies that do not improve our fighting ranks."

In addition to Harvard, Hegseth took aim at much of the Ivy League, saying the schools have a "pervasive institutional bias" and a lack of viewpoint diversity, including the "coddling of toxic ideologies," that he said undercuts the military’s mission.

He said that in the coming weeks, all departments at the Pentagon will evaluate existing graduate programs for active-duty service members at Ivy League schools and other civilian universities.

UNIVERSITIES SLASH 9,000+ POSITIONS IN 2025 AS TRUMP TARGETS FEDERAL FUNDING AND FOREIGN STUDENTS: REPORT

"The goal is to determine whether or not they actually deliver cost effective strategic education for future senior leaders, when compared to, say, public universities and our military graduate programs," he said. "At the War Department, we will strive to maximize taxpayer value in building lethality to establish deterrence. It's that simple. That no longer includes spending millions of dollars on expensive universities that actively undercut our mission and undercut our country."

Hegseth concluded his message, saying, "We train warriors, not wokesters. Harvard, good riddance."

Harvard University did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Fox News Digital's Brian Flood contributed to this report.

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It appears that agitators are trying to spark confrontations with federal law enforcement that could lead to protesters being harmed, even killed, to spark outrage and support for their cause.

It’s a sick story. It sounds outrageous. But it’s true, and everything old is new again.

I saw it 40 years ago and testified about it to Congress. Today we are seeing again: Inserting American citizens into flashpoints as part of a political strategy to get people shot for the purpose of inflaming the public against a president and his policies.

The recent deaths of two Minneapolis protesters reminded me of what I had learned as a 24-year-old in the mid-1980s while infiltrating radical groups – much as people in their twenties are doing today.

JOURNALIST ATTACKED DURING MINNEAPOLIS BLOCKADE SAYS ANTI-ICE AGITATORS TRIED TO ‘DETER' THE TRUTH

Revolutionaries and insurgents create or exploit flashpoints in anticipation of getting some of their followers killed. Journalist Cam Higby has reported on this in Minneapolis. They need martyrs to spark or fuel public anger.

Facing professionally organized provocations and stressors, it was inevitable that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents would plunge into circumstances that domestic extremists had created to provoke media outrage.

Revolutionaries call it "armed propaganda."

DAVID MARCUS: ANTI-ICE AGITATORS ADOPT PALESTINIAN TACTICS, INCLUDING MARTYRDOM

After Portland, Ore., activist Benjamin Linder was killed in Nicaragua by U.S.-backed resistance fighters, or contras, against the Soviet-backed Sandinista regime in 1987, the House Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere affairs held a hearing.

Linder was armed with an AK-47 at the time of his death. Sympathizers portrayed him as a peaceful humanitarian worker. I was called as a witness.

"For two years," I testified, a group called Witness for Peace had "anticipated the killing of an American citizen by the contras so that they could use his death for political propaganda. They wanted someone like Benjamin Linder to die."

FOX NEWS DIGITAL ANALYSIS: HOW MINNEAPOLIS AGITATOR NETWORKS USE INSURGENCY TACTICS TO HINDER ICE

That was hard to say, not only because it sounded so outrageous, but because I was sitting with Linder’s parents in the congressional hearing room.

The Linders were lifetime radicals from Portland. They supported North Vietnam and the Vietcong against American troops. The mother was local leader of a group that collaborated with Soviet active measures operations against the United States. They raised their son Benjamin to place himself in mortal danger.

My impression was that they seemed less like grieving parents and more like mourners of a fallen comrade.

ANTI-ICE AGITATORS ARRESTED OUTSIDE MINNESOTA HOTEL AS POLICE DECLARE UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY: 'NO LONGER PEACEFUL'

As college students and afterward, my friends and I had infiltrated and exposed groups across the country that supported the Central American communists. I also worked with the Nicaraguan resistance fighters against the Sandinistas.

At the hearing, I gave my eyewitness account, plus secondary reports, about how American militant leaders wanted U.S.-backed forces to kill some of their do-gooder allies.

Revolutionary insurgencies require martyrs to outrage and inspire.

DEPUTY AG DETAILS 'MASSIVE UNDERGROUND FRAUD NETWORK' ALLEGEDLY BEHIND MINNEAPOLIS ANTI-ICE PUSH

"It is obvious that Witness for Peace leaders are aware of the military role they are playing in Central America," I testified.

"On one of my trips with the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN) resistance in 1985, I asked several commanders and fighters if the presence of Americans was having any effect on their ability to fight the Sandinista army," I said in my testimony. "The answer was positive: The FDN fighters were afraid of hurting any Americans working with the Sandinistas for fear of a backlash of public opinion in the United States."

At a 1995 Witness for Peace meeting in Boulder, Colo., I learned that the group was planning to expand operations to El Salvador, only to abort three days later when its guerrilla friends murdered four off-duty U.S. Marines and two other Americans.

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I testified that in a later New York meeting, we heard "that some of the group’s leaders privately expressed hope that some of their activists in Nicaragua would get shot by the resistance. If a Witness for Peace activist was killed, they reasoned, American public opinion would turn against the contras."

The Boston Globe quoted another WfP activist, a lawyer from Bangor, Maine, as saying that "Some of us have got to die" at the hands of U.S.-backed forces. "If some of us die, we bring the cause home to our countrymen in a very personal way," he said. "If that’s what it will take, that’s what it will take."

With Linder’s death, I told Congress, the American radicals "finally had a martyr. They got their televised interviews. They have their congressional hearing. They got their wish."

Which brings us back to Minneapolis today. America must face the fact that organizers are out there to enrage, demoralize and manipulate us all. They don’t care about the human fallout.

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The immigration debate is focused almost entirely on the border, but the real failure happens after entry, inside taxpayer-funded benefits systems that rarely demand proof. While enforcement dominates the headlines, billions of dollars quietly move through Medicaid, housing and social services with weak identity verification, inconsistent eligibility checks, and little accountability. This is where the system breaks down: Americans work harder, taxpayer dollars move faster and fraud thrives in the absence of enforcement.

While Democrats and much of the mainstream media obsess over ICE enforcement and border encounters, a far more serious failure is unfolding inside Medicaid offices, housing authorities and social services agencies nationwide. Federal data show that Medicaid improper payments of our tax dollars reached $37.4 billion in fiscal year 2025, with error rates climbing above 6%, up from $31.1 billion the year before. Across federal healthcare programs, improper payments now approach $95.5 billion.

They are the taxpayer dollars of hardworking Americans paid out without adequate documentation, verified eligibility, or proof that payments met program rules. Federal auditors report that over 77% of improper payments stem from documentation gaps unsubstantiated by administrators. While not every improper payment constitutes fraud, weak identity verification and minimal oversight create incentives for abuse by both providers and recipients. States lacking robust verification systems are far more likely to issue improper or fraudulent payments, a risk repeatedly flagged by federal watchdogs. This is the predictable outcome of systems that prioritize rapid enrollment over verification, expansion over accountability, and optics over enforcement.

CONGRESS OPENS ‘INDUSTRIAL-SCALE FRAUD’ PROBE IN MINNESOTA, WARNS WALZ DEMANDS ARE ‘JUST THE BEGINNING’

Minnesota has become ground zero for an epic collapse in benefits oversight. Since 2018, approximately half of $18 billion in federally funded social service spending has come under scrutiny amid allegations of fraud tied to Medicaid, housing stabilization services, and disability care programs. Prosecutors allege schemes involving billing for services were never provided, shell providers approved with minimal vetting, and even after red flags were raised, state agencies continued payments. The Feeding Our Future case alone resulted in more than 50 federal convictions and hundreds of millions in fraudulent claims, making it one of the largest nonprofit fraud prosecutions in U.S. history. This is the predictable result of ignored audits and failed oversight.

California is another stark example of taxpayer fraud when verification is optional. A federal Office of Inspector General audit found the state improperly claimed more than $52 million in federal Medicaid reimbursements for illegal aliens because California failed to check eligibility and enforce basic verification. That same breakdown appears in homelessness spending, where federal auditors warned that hundreds of millions of dollars were at risk given weak controls, a warning recently highlighted by a federal criminal complaint alleging a California nonprofit fraudulently obtained $23 million in federal homelessness funds. Instead of proving eligibility, the system assumed eligibility and taxpayers paid the price.

SEC SCOTT BESSENT: HOW TO STOP FRAUD IN MINNESOTA—AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Maine shows the same dangerous pattern. A federal Office of Inspector General audit found at least $45.6 million due to improper Medicaid payments driven by lack of compliance of eligibility checks and inadequate documentation. Maine agreed to repay up to $28.7 million in federal funds, but oversight failures continued. Just last month, state investigators also found that Gateway Community Services overbilled MaineCare by more than $1 million, triggering payment suspensions and investigation amid suspected fraud.

WALZ’S MINNESOTA MESS COULD SPARK THE TOUGHEST FRAUD REFORMS IN DECADES

These cases are only the ones that were investigated, but showcase a national pattern where, when benefits systems are designed to move money quickly and verification is treated as optional, waste and fraud are inevitable. Americans feel this disconnect, and the data confirms it. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released in January 2026 found that 53% of Americans say immigration policy is moving in the wrong direction, outweighing approval. At the same time, Pew Research reports only 17% of Americans trust the federal government in Washington to do what is right. That distrust is not just about immigration, but reflects a broader belief that government has lost control, spending taxpayer dollars without audits, accountability, or consequences. The political class is stuck in denial. Democrats often frame audits and eligibility enforcement as cruel or discriminatory, while some Republicans tout it as the "cost of doing business." Both positions are a losing message for taxpayers who see massive fraud with little oversight. Protecting public trust in social safety nets requires pro-taxpayer, pro-rule-of-law enforcement.

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We must enforce the same standards working Americans face daily when they apply for jobs, loans, or any government services. Identity verification, eligibility checks and continuous audits are the bare minimum of responsible governance.

Arguing over border enforcement while ignoring the benefits systems only deepens the chaos. You cannot control immigration while refusing to control the programs that quietly finance disorder. Immigration did not spiral because Americans demanded order — it spiraled because government stopped demanding proof.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM MEHEK COOKE

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A newborn baby in New Mexico died from a Listeria infection likely tied to the mother drinking raw milk while pregnant, according to state health officials.

The New Mexico Department of Health issued a warning Tuesday urging people to avoid consuming raw dairy products following the newborn’s death. Health officials believe the "most likely" source of infection was the mother drinking unpasteurized milk during pregnancy.

While investigators said they could not determine the exact cause, they said the "tragic death underscores the serious risks raw dairy poses to pregnant women, young children, elderly New Mexicans and anyone with a weakened immune system."

Raw milk has seen a surge in popularity amid the Make America Healthy Again movement led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

FIVE DEATHS REPORTED AMID BACTERIAL INFECTION OUTBREAK IN MAJOR CITY

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a regulation decades ago prohibiting the interstate sale of raw milk, but the drink is not federally banned, leaving individual states to decide whether it's safe for human consumption.

"Individuals who are pregnant should only consume pasteurized milk products to help prevent illnesses and deaths in newborns," Dr. Chad Smelser, deputy state epidemiologist for the New Mexico Department of Health said in a statement.

Raw milk has not been pasteurized — a process that heats milk to remove disease-causing germs.

DEADLY BACTERIAL OUTBREAK INFECTS DOZENS IN CITY NEIGHBORHOOD AS OFFICIALS SOUND ALARM

Consuming food or beverages made from raw milk can expose people to Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, E. coli, Listeria, Brucella and Salmonella, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Listeria is the third leading cause of death from foodborne illness in the U.S., infecting about 1,250 people and causing roughly 172 deaths each year, according to the CDC.

The CDC notes that certain groups of people, including children under the age of 5, adults over 65, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, have a higher risk of serious illness.

"New Mexico’s dairy producers work hard to provide safe, wholesome products and pasteurization is a vital part of that process," Jeff M. Witte, New Mexico secretary of agriculture, said in a statement. "Consumers, particularly those at higher risk, are encouraged to choose pasteurized dairy products to reduce the risk of serious foodborne illness."

Last August, an outbreak of E. coli and Campylobacter linked to raw milk from a Florida farm sickened 21 people, including six children.

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Our broken immigration system is a stain on both major political parties and leaders, who have instead burdened us with massive debt, the world’s most expensive healthcare and medicines, an uninspired, second-tier public education system and policies that actually incentivize illegal crossings of our borders.

Ronald Reagan would be appalled at both parties, and George Washington would say he warned us as we find ourselves at yet another disconcerting moment in American history.

Today’s crisis is one of our own making: a battle over immigration enforcement in Minnesota — a low-crime state estimated to be home to just 100,000 undocumented people, about half the national average per capita and nowhere close to the millions residing in sunny Texas and Florida. Needless to say, it’s not a stretch to believe Operation Metro Surge is a campaign of provocation and retribution rather than resolution. It’s also not a stretch to contend that common-sense Americans (myself included) believe the porous southern border enabled by former President Biden was as absurd and unreasonable as attempting to deport 14 million undocumented people as current President Donald Trump is endeavoring to accomplish at this very moment.

TIM WALZ ACCUSES TRUMP OF 'ORGANIZED BRUTALITY' IN IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN, SAYS ICE TACTICS ARE 'UN-AMERICAN'

While we should all celebrate the removal of undocumented criminals from our streets, the misguided and mismanaged effort in Minneapolis will be remembered as one of the most horrifying abuses of American law and decency in my lifetime. It killed two American citizens in cold blood and trampled on the civil rights of countless others, including multiple off-duty police officers in the Twin Cities who were accosted by roving, masked, ID-less, armed ICE agents because they were brown, or black, or spoke with an accent. But the operation did accomplish something that had seemed impossible just a month ago: a progressive left unified with gun-rights advocates, libertarians, police chiefs, rule-of-law Republicans and even a Republican senator retiring at the end of his term and liberated to speak the truth.

While the America to which Ronald Reagan aspired seems like a distant dream, I believe the better angels of America’s massive majority recognize the horrifying consequences posed by incompetent leadership and moral breaks in our national fabric.

Some on the left view Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as an occupying force — an agency to be resisted at every turn. Others on the right see local pushback as undermining lawful immigration enforcement and local public safety.

But to the massive majority, this binary is a false choice.

JONATHAN TURLEY: DEMOCRAT POLITICIANS ARE RISKING LIVES WITH RECKLESS ANTI-ICE RHETORIC

The executive branch has constitutional authority to enforce immigration law, and that mandate doesn’t magically disappear because state or local officials object. That’s why some level of cooperation — even if reluctant — makes sense. It prevents chaotic clashes between different authorities, allows shared information and oversight, and ensures enforcement actions are transparent. Refusing to cooperate entirely only heightens tensions and leaves communities less protected and more polarized.

Yes, cooperation must be thoughtful, conditional and rooted in respect for civil liberties. It should not be blind support for every tactic an agency employs. But neither should it be principled obstruction that fuels distrust and diminishes accountability.

Democrats and Republicans alike should want cooperation where it reinforces constitutional order, protects public safety and ensures due process. That’s not capitulation — it’s common sense governance.

DAVID MARCUS: SPURNING TRUMP MEANS MAYOR JACOB FREY OWNS MINNEAPOLIS MESS

Let’s be clear: the fallout from this operation has been horrifying. People have died. Families have been torn apart. Young children have been detained. These are real harms that demand accountability and reform — not spin and not deflection.

At the same time, dismissing all enforcement as illegitimate invites lawlessness and undermines the very framework of the rule of law, due process and judicial review that protects civil liberties in our country. We don’t want an abdication of enforcement authority, rather a reimagined approach that respects constitutional due process and civil rights.

This is where local cooperation can actually be a force for reform. When state and city officials engage with federal agents, they can help ensure enforcement measures are proportionate, targeted and transparent — rather than arbitrary and alienating.

BIDEN SPEAKS OUT AGAINST IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN IN MINNESOTA, SAYS IT GOES AGAINST AMERICAN VALUES

But we’ll keep finding ourselves in this destructive battle until we address the root causes once and for all. And there is more common ground on immigration policy than many recognize. I believe:

1. Most of us want a lawful, orderly immigration system that attracts and welcomes high potential contributors while offering reasonable refuge to the oppressed.

2. Most of us want the quick removal of undocumented, convicted criminals, and the application of due process, human dignity and judicial review before the deportation of others.

WHY TRUMP SENDING TOM HOMAN TO MINNESOTA IS A STROKE OF ABSOLUTE GENIUS

3. Most of us want honesty and accountability from federal, state, and local agencies charged with enforcing our laws and protesters who exercise their rights peacefully.

4. Most of us want to fix the broken system with majority support for: Changing our asylum laws, which currently require asylum seekers, legitimate or not, to physically set foot in the United States. That means our law essentially requires an illegal border crossing to legally apply for asylum. Why not require applications to be filed at one of our consulates or embassies around the world before crossing our border?

Devising a pathway to citizenship for those contributing to America, who confess to illegally crossing our borders, who pay a fine to the US Treasury, and who fulfill citizenship education.

SEN RUBEN GALLEGO: I WON'T FUND A ROGUE ICE THAT SHOOTS FIRST AND CALLS IT LAW ENFORCEMENT

Raising the physical bar for illegal immigration and lowering the administrative bar for legal immigration. We should be recruiting the world’s best and brightest while remaining a place of refuge for the oppressed.

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In the meantime, we must come to some resolution on the leadership and tactics of ICE and uncooperative sanctuary states and cities. Minnesota leaders have rightly voiced their concerns about the violence and societal disruptions tied to these enforcement actions. These voices matter and should be part of the national conversation on reform.

But full resistance — refusing any cooperation — risks turning legitimate grievance into fruitless confrontation. That’s why cities and states should engage with enforcement agencies strategically to make immigration enforcement more just instead of creating battlegrounds that magnify mistrust.

Conflict always presents the possibility for collaboration. The current crisis shouldn’t be an end point, rather a turning point — one where Americans of all political stripes prioritize reforms and enforcement that’s lawful, humane, transparent and accountable.

It’s surely the agenda Ronald Reagan would have fought for, and one we’d be foolish not to embrace as a great nation of immigrants.

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A judge on Tuesday issued an order to temporarily restrict federal officers from using tear gas at protests outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building in Portland, which comes after agents deployed gas at a crowd of demonstrators, including young children, despite the mayor describing the assembly as peaceful.

U.S. District Judge Michael Simon in Oregon instructed federal officers not to use chemical or projectile munitions on people who pose no imminent threat of physical harm or who are only trespassing or refusing dispersal orders.

The judge also prohibited federal officers from shooting at a person's head, neck or torso "unless the officer is legally justified in using deadly force against that person."

Simon wrote in his order that the nation "is now at a crossroads."

PORTLAND MAYOR DEMANDS ICE LEAVE CITY AFTER FEDERAL AGENTS USE TEAR GAS ON PROTESTERS: 'SICKENING DECISIONS'

"In a well-functioning constitutional democratic republic, free speech, courageous newsgathering, and nonviolent protest are all permitted, respected, and even celebrated," he wrote. "In helping our nation find its constitutional compass, an impartial and independent judiciary operating under the rule of law has a responsibility that it may not shirk."

The temporary restraining order will remain in effect for 14 days, Simon said.

The ruling comes after a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon on behalf of protesters and freelance journalists covering demonstrations at the ICE building.

The complaint argues that federal officers’ use of chemical munitions and excessive force represents retaliation against protesters, which violates their First Amendment rights.

The Department of Homeland Security contends that the federal officers have "followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property."

"HS is taking appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.

Tensions between anti-ICE demonstrators and federal officers have intensified in recent weeks in cities across the country, particularly after the shooting deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in separate incidents last month in Minneapolis.

A federal appeals court last month suspended an earlier decision that banned federal officers from using tear gas or pepper spray against peaceful protesters in Minnesota who are not obstructing law enforcement operations. An appeals court also reversed a ruling from a judge in Chicago that barred federal agents from using certain riot control weapons, including tear gas and pepper balls, unless needed to prevent an immediate threat.

The lawsuit in Oregon describes instances where federal officers used chemical or "less-lethal" munitions against the plaintiffs, which includes a protester known for wearing a chicken costume, a married couple in their 80s and two freelance journalists.

"Defendants must be enjoined from gassing, shooting, hitting and arresting peaceful Portlanders and journalists willing to document federal abuses as if they are enemy combatants," the complaint reads.

The owner and residents of the affordable housing complex across the street from the ICE building have also filed a lawsuit, seeking to restrict federal officers’ use of tear gas because residents have been repeatedly exposed in the past year.

CBP/BORDER PATROL AGENTS PLACED ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE AFTER DEADLY CONFRONTATION WITH ALEX PRETTI

On Saturday, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson demanded ICE leave his city after federal officers deployed tear gas at a crowd of demonstrators outside the agency's facility. The mayor characterized the protests as peaceful, as federal officers also used pepper balls, flash-bang grenades and rubber bullets against the demonstrators.

"Federal forces deployed heavy waves of chemical munitions, impacting a peaceful daytime protest where the vast majority of those present violated no laws, made no threat, and posed no danger to federal forces," he said in a statement on Saturday.

"To those who continue to work for ICE: Resign. To those who control this facility: Leave. Through your use of violence and the trampling of the Constitution, you have lost all legitimacy and replaced it with shame. To those who continue to make these sickening decisions, go home, look in a mirror, and ask yourselves why you have gassed children. Ask yourselves why you continue to work for an agency responsible for murders on American streets. No one is forcing you to lie to yourself, even as your bosses continue to lie to the American people," the mayor continued.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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New York and New Jersey sued the Trump administration Tuesday for cutting off $16 billion in federal funding for a new rail tunnel project under the Hudson River connecting the two states.

The federal government is accused of "illegally withholding" funding committed to the Gateway project and the two states are seeking emergency relief to force the release of funds frozen by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). 

With construction already underway, the states are seeking a quick ruling because the project could be forced to shut down as early as Friday, potentially eliminating thousands of jobs and saddling the states with significant new operating costs.

The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, comes after the Trump administration froze billions of dollars during the government shutdown last fall tied to the project, as well as funding for the extension of New York City’s Second Avenue Subway.

TRUMP ADMIN SEEKING TO PULL FUNDING FROM LOCAL GOVERNMENTS SLAPPED WITH JUDGE'S PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

"Donald Trump's revenge tour on New York threatens to derail one of the most vital infrastructure projects this nation has built in generations, putting thousands of union jobs and billions of dollars in economic benefits in jeopardy and threatening the commutes of 200,000 riders," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement.

She said New York "will fight this illegal effort by the Trump Administration to steal the funding the federal government committed to get the Gateway Tunnel built with everything we've got."

"My message to Donald Trump and Sean Duffy is simple: we'll see you in court."

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and the Department of Transportation for comment.

DEMOCRAT AGS SUE TRUMP FOR 'UNCONSCIONABLE' FREEZE ON $6.8B IN K-12 SPENDING

The large-scale project would create new tunnels and rehabilitate an existing Hudson River rail crossing connecting northern New Jersey and New York City.

The overhaul is considered necessary because the existing rail tunnels are more than 115 years old and suffered severe damage from saltwater flooding during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The tunnels carry about 70,000 New Jersey commuters daily, and Amtrak has warned that failure of one tunnel could cut rail traffic into New York City by up to 75%.

The project has been under construction for more than a year, but the Trump administration put a hold on federal funding in September, citing the government shutdown — a move the two states argue is "jeopardizing the economic future of the Northeast region."

ZOHRAN MAMDANI VOWS TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST TRUMP'S THREAT TO WITHHOLD FEDERAL FUNDING FOR NYC

"Every time the Trump Administration gets involved, costs go up and working people suffer. The illegal attack on the Gateway Tunnel is yet another example," New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said in a statement. "New Jersey will not back down from this fight. If this project stops, 1,000 workers will immediately lose their jobs and hundreds of thousands of commuters will lose the chance at finally having reliable train service that makes their lives easier."

New York Attorney General Letitia James added in a statement posted on X that stopping the Gateway project "would cost thousands of good-paying jobs and put one of the country’s most heavily used transit corridors at risk."

Jennifer Davenport, New Jersey's acting attorney general, delivered a blunt message to the Trump administration.

DUFFY THREATENS TO YANK NEW YORK FEDERAL FUNDS OVER ILLEGALLY ISSUED COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENSES

"Our promise to our residents is clear: we will protect them from attacks on their rights and on their pocketbooks, whatever the source," she said.

"The President’s decision to freeze funding for the Hudson Tunnel Project jeopardizes safe and reliable infrastructure and puts thousands of jobs at risk," she added. "The Federal Government has left us no choice: we must challenge this illegal action in court, and demand emergency relief that will protect us from these unlawful harms."

A separate lawsuit over tunnel funding was filed Monday against the federal government by the Gateway Development Commission, which oversees the project.

Fox News Digital's Michael Dorgan and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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