As the White House moves to revoke Harvard University’s certification to enroll foreign students — escalating a battle between the administration and the oldest and wealthiest college in the U.S. — President Donald Trump is falsely claiming that Harvard offers “remedial mathematics” on topics such as simple addition.

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He most recently took aim at the school’s math offerings during a swearing-in ceremony in the Oval Office on Wednesday for Interim U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. Jeanine Pirro, a Fox News host who was formerly a county prosecutor and elected judge, in response to a question from a reporter about how the “confrontation” with Harvard will end.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

CLAIM: “Harvard announced two weeks ago that they’re going to teach remedial mathematics, remedial, meaning they’re going to teach low grade mathematics like two plus two is four. How did these people get into Harvard? If they can’t, if they can’t do basic mathematics, how did they do it?”

THE FACTS: Harvard does not offer a remedial math class covering basic arithmetic. Asked whether Trump was referring to a specific class, a White House spokesperson provided information about Mathematics MA5, which was introduced in the fall of 2024 as a new format for an existing course that offers extra support in calculus. The original course — Mathematics MA — is still offered.

“Harvard College does not offer any so-called remedial math classes,” said James Chisholm, a spokesperson for the university’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which encompasses its undergraduate program.

He added: “Math MA5 is a college-level calculus class. It is simply a new format of Math MA, the introductory freshman calculus course that has been taught at Harvard for decades.”

Students in Mathematics MA and MA5 have the exact same homework, exams and grading structure, according to Chisholm. The only difference is that the former meets three days a week and the latter five days a week. They are both prerequisites for higher-level math courses.

One question on a sample exam Chisholm provided asks students to write a formula for determining the total number of cases during a hypothetical epidemic after a certain amount of days.

The Harvard Crimson reported in September that Director of Introductory Math Brendan Kelly said Mathematics MA5 is “aimed at rectifying a lack of foundational algebra skills among students” created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A course description notes that its “extra support will target foundational skills in algebra, geometry, and quantitative reasoning.”

Harvard Extension School, the university’s continuing education program aimed at working adults, offers a precalculus course. Most students need only register to attend. Those who want to pursue a degree must first successfully complete two or three courses in their chosen field of study. Those earning a certificate or taking a single course must only meet certain enrollment requirements, such as English proficiency.

Harvard College undergraduates, who must apply to the university and be admitted under its rigorous admission standards, are not allowed to cross-register for Harvard Extension School classes.

“Harvard Extension School is 100% distinct from Harvard College and the two have nothing to do with each other in terms of curriculum or students,” said Chisholm.

Harvard’s Rising Scholars Program, an invite-only opportunity for incoming Harvard College students from “high schools that offered them limited college-level academic enrichment opportunities” offers a summer course for students who need an additional foundation on topics such as precalculus and algebra.

“The important point on Rising Scholars is it’s more about the incoming student’s high school than the individual student’s ability,” said Chisholm.

Harvard has also offered an Emerging Scholars Program to similarly support freshmen enrolled in introductory calculus who are interested in fields related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics, in an effort to “correct systemic inequalities in math and science K-12 education that have affected our college students for many years.”

The median math score for the most recently enrolled undergraduate class at Harvard College was 790 out of 800 on the SATs and 35 out of 36 on the ACTs. The average high school GPA was 4.2.

“There is no university in America that is as difficult to earn admission to as Harvard — no matter your demographics,” said Brian Taylor, managing partner at the college counseling service Ivy Coach. “President Trump’s math in this case simply doesn’t add up.”

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.

NEW YORK — A second man charged in the kidnapping and torture of an Italian man for his Bitcoin has been indicted.

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A Manhattan grand jury handed up the indictment Friday against William Duplessie, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office. The indictment will remain sealed until his arraignment June 11.

Duplessie, 32, faces charges of kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a weapon, police have said. His lawyer, in an email, declined to comment on the indictment.

Prosecutors say Duplessie and fellow crypto investor John Woeltz, 37, lured the victim to a posh townhouse in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood on May 6 by threatening to kill his family.

The man, a 28-year-old Italian national who has not been named by officials, said he was then held captive for 17 days, as the two investors tormented him with electrical wires, forced him to smoke from a crack pipe and at one point dangled him from a staircase five stories high.

He eventually agreed to hand over his computer password Friday morning, then managed to flee the home as his captors went to retrieve the device.

The grand jury decision followed Duplessie’s brief appearance Friday morning in Manhattan court.

A judge reminded him a protective order was still in effect, though he didn’t name who it was concerning.

Duplessie, who is listed as a founder or investor at various blockchain-based companies, was escorted in handcuffs and wore a prison jumpsuit. He didn’t address the court.

Both Duplessie and Woeltz remain in custody.

New York City police are also investigating two detectives who worked security at the upscale Manhattan townhouse where the man says he was kidnapped and tortured.

The detectives have been placed on modified leave pending the outcome of the inquiry. A lawyer for the labor union representing NYPD detectives said there’s “absolutely no indication” either officer witnessed any of the alleged illegal activity.

Both directions of Minnesota 97 between Hornsby Street and Falcon Avenue in Forest Lake will be closed beginning 5 a.m. Monday. The closure will remain in place through late fall, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

The work is part of a two-year, $17 million reconstruction of Minnesota 97 between Interstate 35 and U.S. 61 that includes resurfacing the road, constructing a single-lane roundabout at Fenway Avenue and adding turn lanes in specific locations.

In addition, a new multi-use trail will be constructed along the south side of Minnesota 97 to provide a safer space for pedestrians and bicyclists, as well as a connection to the Hardwood Creek Regional Trail.

A raised median also will be added to divide eastbound and westbound traffic on the two-lane roadway; the median also will serve as an accessible pedestrian crossing.

Minnesota 97 will be open to traffic between Falcon Avenue and U.S. 61, and Hornsby Street and all I-35 ramps will remain open, according to a MnDOT news release. Local residential and business access will be maintained throughout construction, although routes will change periodically, the release states.

Motorists can bypass the closure using the following detours:

Eastbound through traffic can use northbound I-35 to eastbound U.S. 8 to southbound U.S. 61
Westbound through traffic can use northbound U.S. 61 to westbound U.S. 8 to southbound I-35
Southbound I-35 traffic can access eastbound Minnesota 97 by using Broadway Avenue to northbound I-35 to eastbound U.S. 8 to southbound U.S. 61.

All construction activities and traffic impacts are weather and schedule dependent and subject to change, according to MnDOT.

For more information, go to mndot.gov/metro/projects/hwy97-forestlake/.

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By PHILIP MARCELO

MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. (AP) — New York is discriminating against a school district that refuses to get rid of its Native American chief mascot and could face a Justice Department investigation or risk losing federal funding, President Donald Trump’s top education official said Friday.

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U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, on a visit to Massapequa High School on Long Island, said an investigation by her agency has determined that state education officials violated Title VI of the federal civil rights law by banning the use of Native American mascots and logos statewide.

The department’s civil rights office found the state ban is discriminatory because names and mascots derived from other racial or ethnic groups, such as the “Dutchmen” and the “Huguenots,” are still permitted.

McMahon described Massapequa’s chiefs mascot as an “incredible” representation of Native American leadership as she made the announcement backed by dozens of students and local officials in the high school gymnasium.

“The Trump Administration will not stand idly by as state leaders attempt to eliminate the history and culture of Native American tribes,” the former longtime CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment said.

McMahon said her department will give the state ten days to sign an agreement rescinding its Native American mascot ban and apologizing to Native Americans for having discriminated against them and attempted to “erase” their history.

JP O’Hare, a spokesperson for the New York education department, dismissed McMahon’s visit as “political theater” and said the school district was doing a “grave disservice” to its students by refusing to consult with local tribes about their concerns.

“These representatives will tell them, as they have told us, that certain Native American names and images perpetuate negative stereotypes and are demonstrably harmful to children,” he said in a statement.

Representatives from the Native American Guardians Association, who voiced support for keeping the chief mascot at Thursday’s event, also don’t speak on behalf of local Indigenous residents, despite claims from school officials, said Adam Drexler, a Massapequa resident and member of the Chickasaw Nation.

“They’re Native Americans for hire,” he said, noting the group is based in North Dakota. “They have no tribal authority.”

Meanwhile the National Congress of American Indians, considered the country’s oldest and largest Native American advocacy group, reaffirmed its long-standing opposition to the use of unsanctioned Native American imagery.

“These depictions are not tributes — they are rooted in racism, cultural appropriation, and intentional ignorance,” the organization said in a statement ahead of McMahon’s appearance.

Trump ordered the federal education department to launch an inquiry into the Massapequa mascot dispute last month, making the coastal suburb an unlikely flashpoint in the enduring debate over the place of Indigenous imagery in American sports.

Located about 40 miles east of Manhattan, the town has for years fought a state mandate to retire Native American sports names and mascots.

But its lawsuit challenging the state’s 2023 ban on constitutional grounds was dismissed by a federal judge earlier this year.

State education officials gave districts until the end of this school year to commit to replacing them or risk losing education funding.

Schools could be exempt from the mandate if they gained approval from a local Native American tribe, but Massapequa never sought such permission, state officials have said.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Trump ally who joined McMahon on the visit, echoed the sentiments of residents who support keeping the mascot. The Massapequa chief, he said, is meant to “honor” the town’s Native American heritage, not “denigrate” it.

“They’re trying to change our culture, and we’re not having it,” Blakeman said Thursday.

The town is named after the Massapequa, who were part of the broader Lenape, or Delaware, people who inhabited the woodlands of the Northeastern U.S. and Canada for thousands of years before being decimated by European colonization.

But indigenous residents on Long Island have called Massapequa’s mascot problematic as it depicts a Native American man wearing a headdress that was typically worn by tribes in the American Midwest, but not in the Northeast.

The cheery mascot also obscures Massapequa’s legacy of violence against Native Americans, which includes the site of a Native American massacre in the 1600s, Native American activists have said.

Massapequa, which is roughly 90% white, has long been a conservative bastion popular with New York City police and firefighters.

Trump visited the town last year to attend the wake of a New York City police officer and has made frequent visits to Long Island as it has shifted Republican.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld, Hollywood’s Baldwin brothers and the Long Island’s alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer are also among Massapequa High’s notable alums.

Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.