Because of the impact of the new crown virus epidemic, many universities in the United States are facing financial crisis, students do not come to school, schools are at risk of not being able to collect tuition fees, and many schools claim to be in financial crisis. So the federal government provided them with aid funds, but President Trump was quite critical of this, saying at a daily press conference held on April 21 local time that Harvard University would repay the money, "they should not accept it."
According to the Daily Mail, under the U.S. government's Coronavirus Assistance, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Harvard, one of the world's top universities, received $8.6 million (about 60.99 million rmb) in aid, at least half of which was asked to be used as student grants, and the rest would be used to compensate the university for losses. But Mr. Trump is unhappy, saying Harvard has the largest donation in U.S. history. It is no exaggeration to say that, as a university that cultivates many of the world's best talents, Harvard received $40.9 billion (about 290 billion rmb) in 2019 from alumni and other donations, the largest of all Ivy League schools.
In addition, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin also said at the press conference that the purpose of the aid payment was not originally for large listed companies with strength. The treasury secretary also praised Shake Shack, a popular New York burger brand, saying the company had returned bailout money that was supposed to belong to small businesses.
Harvard isn't the only Ivy League school to receive aid, Cornell is the highest recipient of aid at $12.8 million (about 90.77 million rmb), and they also received $7.3 billion (about 51.8 billion rmb) in 2019. Joel Malina, the university's vice president, has said the university would do a better job than federal regulations by directing all of its aid to support students.
As Trump's alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania also received $9.9 million in aid funding, and the university also contributes $14.7 billion (about 104.2 billion rmb) in annual alumni donations.