Entire Fulbright board quits in mass revolt over Trump assault
In a stunning institutional revolt against Donald Trump, the entire 12-member board overseeing America's most prestigious international scholarship program resigned en masse Wednesday, blasting the administration for what they called blatantly illegal political interference.
The dramatic walkout of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board represents an unprecedented rebuke to Trump's destruction of academic independence, with board members—including New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen—accusing Marco Rubio's State Department of trampling decades of bipartisan tradition, the Daily Beast reported.
The Fulbright program, a crown jewel of American soft power established by Congress in 1946, has become another casualty in Trump's broader war against higher education and international cooperation. The program typically supports 8,000 scholars, students, and artists in cultural exchanges—exactly the kind of diplomatic bridge-building Trump consistently attacks.
Board members didn't mince words in their scathing resignation statement, accusing Trump appointees of taking "unprecedented actions that we believe are impermissible under the law, compromise U.S. national interests and integrity, and undermine the mission and mandates Congress established for the Fulbright program nearly 80 years ago."
Trump's administration has already begun systematically destroying the program, canceling approximately 200 scholarships awarded to American researchers for international projects. According to sources, most cancellations were based purely on the administration's ideological objections to research topics.
The purge extends beyond American scholars. A staggering 1,200 scholarships awarded to foreign nationals for U.S. research are under review, sending shockwaves through the international academic community and damaging America's reputation as a destination for world-class research.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reportedly submitted a budget proposal that would essentially destroy the program entirely, slashing funding for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs from $691 million to $50 million.
Trump has installed Darren Beattie to oversee the State Department office housing Fulbright. Beattie was previously fired from Trump's first administration after speaking at a white nationalist conference.
The Fulbright controversy represents just the latest front in Trump's attack American higher education. The administration has systematically attacked universities as "too liberal" while demanding ideological submission.
Trump's highest-profile target remains Harvard University, where he's frozen billions in federal funding while issuing demands. When Trump tried blocking Harvard from enrolling international students entirely, a federal judge stopped him.
Meanwhile, Rubio has ordered U.S. embassies worldwide to halt new student visa applications while implementing invasive social media screening—another barrier to international educational exchange.