How the Trump government has the upper hand against Harvard

The Trump government's attempt to attend international students from Harvard University was a sharp escalation in the showdown between the federal government and one of the oldest and most powerful institutions in the country.

It also showed how the younger side – the government – is with the upper hand.

Harvard praised himself to defend himself and many legal experts believe that the law is exactly on the side. However, the administration holds the levers of power and uses them methodically and creatively in an attack on school.

In order to cut off the pipeline of the University of International Students, who make up about 27 percent of Harvard's enrollment, the government has turned to obscure tactics with which it normally switches off sloppy graduate in.

“I was amazed,” said Ted Mitchell, the President of the American Council on Education. “What is becoming more and more clear is that this administration uses every tool that it can.”

A federal judge has already blocked the move, but my colleague Michael Schmidt, an investigative reporter who has treated every turn in this story, tells me that the damage may already be done. Today he explained how urgently Harvard's forced situation has become-and why the power of the federal government over the almost 400-year-old institution is even greater than he had estimated.

JB: You have long covered how Trump used the power of the government to destroy his perceived enemies. How is this time different?