Trump Organization to fire lawyer William Burck over Harvard clash

Trump’s company cuts ties with attorney William Burck after Harvard lawsuit targeting federal funding freeze.

U.S. President Donald Trump uses a cellphone aboard Marine One before departing Leesburg Executive Airport in Leesburg, Virginia, on April 24, 2025. Photo by Alex Wroblewski/AFP

By Anna Fadiah and Hayu Andini

The Trump Organization said it will terminate its relationship with lawyer William Burck, a prominent legal adviser to the company, following revelations that he is representing Harvard University in a lawsuit against the Trump administration. The move came shortly after former President Donald Trump publicly criticized Burck’s involvement in Harvard’s legal battle over the administration’s decision to freeze billions of dollars in federal funding.

Trump’s comments, delivered in a social media post, made no direct mention of Burck’s name but conveyed unmistakable displeasure at the lawyer’s dual role.

“Harvard is a threat to Democracy,” Trump wrote. “With a lawyer, who represents me, who should therefore be forced to resign, immediately, or be fired. … I hope that my very big and beautiful company, now run by my sons, gets rid of him ASAP!”

The Trump Organization, now under the leadership of Trump’s son Eric Trump, quickly followed with an official statement indicating that the company would sever its ties with Burck.

“I view it as conflict and I will be moving in a different direction,” Eric Trump said on Thursday.

Harvard lawsuit spurs Trump Organization response

The controversy stems from Harvard University’s decision to sue the federal government earlier this week. The lawsuit challenges the administration’s order to freeze funding, alleging that the move violated the university’s constitutional rights. According to Harvard, the freeze was an attempt to control academic freedom and interfere with faculty hiring practices.

The Trump administration implemented the freeze in response to Harvard’s refusal to comply with directives from a newly established government task force. The task force has accused several elite institutions of failing to protect Jewish students and of harboring antisemitism. Harvard declined the demands, prompting the freeze and the subsequent legal battle.

Burck, who has a long history of representing high-profile Republican clients, joined Harvard’s legal defense team alongside Robert Hur, a partner at King & Spalding. Hur previously served as a special counsel investigating President Joe Biden’s handling of classified materials.

Who is William Burck?

William Burck is not just another lawyer in a revolving door of Washington legal advisers. A former federal prosecutor in New York, he specializes in white-collar criminal defense and government investigations. Known for charging as much as $3,000 an hour, Burck commands respect across the political spectrum.

His legal portfolio includes defending senior Trump associates like Steve Bannon and advising clients in some of the most high-stakes federal investigations of the last decade. He is currently co-managing partner at Quinn Emanuel, a litigation powerhouse, and serves on the board of Fox Corp., which shares ownership with The Wall Street Journal.

Burck’s firing from the Trump Organization underscores the former president’s deepening hostility toward institutions he sees as adversarial. Despite Burck’s history as a GOP insider and defender of Trump allies, his association with Harvard—a university Trump has long accused of political bias—proved to be a line too far.

Neither Burck nor Harvard commented on the Trump Organization’s decision when reached for responses.

Harvard assembles powerhouse defense amid financial strain

In addition to Burck and Hur, Harvard’s legal team includes several prominent attorneys known for their conservative credentials. Their involvement underscores the university’s effort to make its case resonate beyond liberal academic circles. The team is also reportedly preparing for an extended legal confrontation that could shape future relations between elite universities and federal agencies.

Meanwhile, Harvard has been quietly bolstering its financial position. The university recently sold $750 million in bonds to cover operating costs, and its endowment is exploring a nearly $1 billion sale of private-equity holdings. Though the institution has stated that these moves are unrelated to the federal funding freeze, the timing suggests that Harvard is preparing for prolonged uncertainty.

According to a source familiar with the talks, Harvard is in advanced discussions with Lexington Partners to offload a significant portion of its private-equity stakes. While the source insisted the decision is driven by broader portfolio strategy, some observers believe the university is hedging against additional financial pressure from Washington.

Tension builds between Trump world and elite institutions

The fallout from the Harvard lawsuit illustrates the broader clash between Trump-aligned political figures and elite academic institutions. The former president has frequently accused Ivy League schools of promoting leftist ideologies and suppressing conservative viewpoints. The lawsuit, and Burck’s involvement in it, provided a fresh flashpoint.

By publicly rebuking Burck, Trump signaled that loyalty to his political vision would be paramount—even for long-trusted legal advisers. The decision also raises questions about whether other attorneys in similar situations will face pressure to drop clients or cases that clash with Trump’s agenda.

Legal ethics experts note that it is not uncommon for attorneys to represent multiple clients with overlapping interests. However, the optics of representing both Harvard and Trump-linked entities amid a federal standoff proved politically untenable for the former president and his family-run business.

Political implications beyond the boardroom

The firing of William Burck by the Trump Organization may seem like an isolated internal business decision, but it reflects larger political and legal undercurrents. As Trump and his allies continue to exert influence over Republican politics and business circles, the boundaries of acceptable professional conduct are increasingly being drawn along ideological lines.

This situation also highlights the difficulty for elite lawyers navigating a polarized environment, where representing one client could jeopardize their standing with another. Burck’s dismissal illustrates how even seasoned professionals can find themselves at the center of political storms simply by doing their job.

In the world of high-profile litigation and political power, neutrality is becoming harder to maintain. And as the Trump Organization’s latest move shows, the cost of crossing perceived lines of loyalty can be steep—even for a $3,000-an-hour lawyer with a résumé full of GOP credentials.