Columbia University appears to be ready and willing to work with President Donald Trump and his administration. The university’s interim president. Katrina Armstrong, issued a letter on Friday in response to the Trump administration cutting $400 million in federal grants to the school. Federal agencies that severed their ties with Columbia said it was because of the Ivy League institution’s "continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students."  They are ready to work because they have no choice.  They cannot be trusted to reverse course.

     Armstrong says in her letter that the funding cuts will "immediately impact research and other critical functions," but she does not dismiss the Trump administration’s claims. Rather, Armstrong writes that the university takes the cuts "very seriously" and is prepared to work with the government on its "legitimate concerns."

     "When I accepted the role of Interim President in August 2024, I knew Columbia needed a reset from the previous year and the chaos of encampments and protests on our campus," Armstrong wrote. "The University also needed to acknowledge and repair the damage to our Jewish students, who were targeted, harassed, and made to feel unsafe or unwelcome on our campus last spring."

     In a telling portion of her letter, Armstrong admits that Columbia University’s disciplinary process "previously only existed on paper," seemingly taking a jab at former Columbia President Minouche Shafik.  In August 2024, Shafik resigned after the university was rocked by months of anti-Israel protests, including a large encampment at the center of its campus and the takeover of a building.