President Trump doesn't have the legal authority to nix Harvard University's tax-exempt status on his own. But will that stop him?

Trump, who has shown a willingness to test the boundaries of the law as he seeks to hurt colleges financially, is at war with Harvard, locked in a lawsuit while he goes after its research funding, international students and, perhaps most dangerously for the school, its tax exemption.

The IRS is meant to be a politically independent agency, and the university says the administration has "no legal basis" for its actions.

Experts say taking away Harvard’s tax-exempt status is nearly impossible and that Trump’s comments have already waded into illegal territory.

“My concern is less substantive, because the administration isn't going to win this, even if the IRS follows their direction, unless there is some secret knowledge they have about Harvard. And there's not," said Samuel Brunson, the associate dean for academic affairs at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

“Harvard is ultimately going to keep its tax exemption, but to the extent that Donald Trump wants to make the IRS a tool for him to go after his real and perceived enemies, that is bad for the IRS. That's bad for democracy,” Brunson added.

Trump has been pushing the revocation of Harvard's........

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