Conan O’Brien Zings Trump at Harvard Commencement
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Comedian and former late-night host Conan O’Brien returned to his alma mater on Thursday to deliver Harvard’s 375th commencement address, mixing signature wit with pointed political commentary as the Ivy League institution finds itself in the crosshairs of the Trump administration. O’Brien, a Harvard alumnus from the Class of 1985 and former president of The Harvard Lampoon, did not mince words about the political climate surrounding the university’s graduation ceremony.
“We are living through a period of extreme narcissism,” O’Brien told graduates, according to AP News. “Our current leadership in Washington believes that empathy is a weakness.”
A University Under Siege
O’Brien’s appearance comes during one of the most turbulent periods in Harvard’s nearly four-century history. The Trump administration has waged an escalating campaign against the university, filing a lawsuit in March 2026 alleging Harvard violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by failing to address antisemitism on campus. The suit seeks to recover billions of dollars in federal funding.
The conflict predates the lawsuit. In 2025, a federal judge ordered the administration to reverse more than $2.6 billion in research funding cuts, ruling the government had used antisemitism as a “smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault” on the university. The administration also attempted to block Harvard from enrolling international students by revoking its SEVP certification, a move temporarily halted by a federal judge.
In February 2026, President Donald Trump escalated further, demanding $1 billion from Harvard as part of any settlement — doubling an earlier demand for $500 million toward trade schools.
O’Brien’s Sharp-Witted Response
O’Brien wove the political turmoil into his address with characteristic humor. Joking that he was suing Harvard over uncomfortable dorm furniture and his “less-than-spectacular undergraduate sex life,” he quipped that his claims had “more merit than those filed by the president of the United States.”
He also joked about “Justice Department spies” being in attendance and defended international students, whom the administration has targeted. The comedian urged graduates not to let their Harvard pedigree define them.
“Maybe my wish for you is not that Harvard becomes the last thing people know about you,” O’Brien said, “but instead that Harvard become the least important thing people know about you.”
In a moment of reflection on the broader cultural moment, O’Brien noted that everyone in attendance carries a phone “algorithmically programmed to celebrate you and you alone, by making you the protein-maxing hero of your own special journey.”
Strike and Solidarity on Campus
The commencement unfolded against the backdrop of a labor dispute that has disrupted campus life for weeks. More than 4,000 Harvard graduate student workers represented by HGSU-UAW have been on strike since April 21, picketing for higher wages, stronger protections for non-citizen workers, and independent investigation procedures for harassment and discrimination complaints.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, a Harvard alumna, canceled her scheduled speech at Harvard Law School’s Class Day ceremony on May 27 in solidarity with striking workers. Denish Jaswal, a PhD student and union bargaining committee member, said the union is picketing “to make clear to the broader Harvard community that our workers deserve conditions that protect us in our workplace and allow them to afford to live while doing this work.”
Student speaker Andrew O’Donohue, who completed a doctorate studying democratic institutions, addressed the chilling effect of political interference on academic life. “When students self-censor, when professors fear being punished, when scientists worry that research funding is allocated based on politics,” O’Donohue said, “our universities will not produce the next great artist, doctor, scientist, educator, lawyer, entrepreneur, public servant, or innovator.”
Dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators silently held signs during the ceremony condemning the university’s “Complicity in Palestinian Genocide,” continuing a tradition of protest that has marked recent Harvard commencements.
What It Means
Harvard’s 2026 commencement captured, in a single day, the multiple existential pressures facing elite American universities: federal legal and financial threats from the Trump administration, labor unrest from graduate workers, ongoing protests over the war in Gaza, and debates about free speech and academic freedom.
O’Brien’s decision to use his platform to defend international students and criticize the administration’s approach signals that Harvard’s influential alumni network may serve as a source of public advocacy during the crisis. The question now is whether the university can navigate these competing pressures — from Washington, its faculty, its students, and its alumni — without compromising the academic independence that defines its mission.
With the Trump administration’s lawsuit still pending and the graduate worker strike entering its sixth week, Harvard’s challenges are far from over. But for one afternoon, in the midst of the turmoil, a comedian reminded graduates that empathy, not power, might be the most valuable lesson their education has to offer.