Harvard University says it didn’t get small business aid after Trump threat

Harvard University refused Tuesday that it applied for or received funding through the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses engaging with the coronavirus crisis after President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House he planned to force the college to pay back federal assistance.

"President Trump is true that it'd not are suitable for our institution to receive funds that were designated for struggling small businesses," the university said during a statement Tuesday.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that the program wasn't intended for publicly traded companies that had other ways to access funding, which his department would be issuing guidelines soon in an endeavour to induce those corporations to provide back the forgivable loans to the federal government.

The Shake Shack Inc. burger chain said earlier in the week it planned to return a $10 million loan it received through the program amid public outrage that the package benefited chain restaurants and hotels instead of local businesses.

As Mnuchin was discussing the trouble, Trump interjected to mention Harvard will "pay back the money."

"They shouldn't be taking it," Trump said. "When I saw Harvard -- one in all the most important endowments anywhere within the country, maybe the world, and they are going to pay back that money."

The university -- which had an endowment valued at $40.9 billion as of June -- said it had received funding under a separate $14 billion program targeted at education institutions within the $2.2 trillion relief package passed by Congress late last month. That program grants universities assistance supported a formula that looks at overall enrollment and therefore the number of students receiving federal financial aid, and a minimum of half the funding must be provided on to students suffering from the coronavirus.

"Like most colleges and universities, Harvard has been allocated funds as a part of the CARES Act higher education Emergency Relief Fund," Harvard said during a statement. "Harvard has committed that 100% of those emergency higher education funds are used to provide direct assistance to students facing urgent financial needs because of the COVID-19 pandemic."

Harvard says it'd give the all the $8.6 million it received on to students, despite being eligible to spend half that on its institutional costs associated with the virus. Other top-tier and highly-endowed universities also received funding under the program. Yale University was allocated $6.8 million, the University of Chicago got $6.2 million, and Stanford University took nearly $7.4 million in federal assistance.

Late Tuesday evening, Trump posted on Twitter that Harvard should "give back the money now." He failed to say if he meant the $8.6 million.

"Their whole 'endowment' system should be checked out," the president added. The White House earlier Tuesday declined to discuss whether the administration would still seek to cut back Harvard's grant under the legislation.