Harvard sued US President Donald Trump’s administration Monday in a sharp escalation of the fight between the prestigious university and the Republican, who has threatened its funding and sought to impose outside political supervision.

Trump has sought to bring several prestigious universities to heel over claims they tolerated campus anti-Semitism, threatening their budgets, tax-exempt status and the enrolment of foreign students, but Harvard has refused to bow.

The lawsuit calls for the freezing of funds and conditions imposed on federal grants to be declared unlawful, as well as for the Trump administration to pay Harvard’s costs.

Trump and his White House team have publicly justified their campaign against universities as a reaction to what they say is uncontrolled “anti-Semitism” and a need to reverse diversity programs aimed at addressing historical oppression of minorities.

The administration claims protests against Israel’s war in Gaza that swept across US college campuses last year were rife with anti-Semitism.

Many US universities, including Harvard, cracked down on the protests over the allegations at the time, with the Cambridge-based institution placing 23 students on probation and denying degrees to 12 others, according to protest organizers.