Donald Trump is committing a ¡°tremendous act of self-harm¡± in attacking US higher education, according to Rory Stewart, but the podcaster warned UK universities not to be ¡°too smug¡± because it could happen to them one day.

Stewart, former Conservative secretary of state for international development and currently a fellow at Yale University, said the US economy remains strong today because of the deliberate partnership formed between the federal government and universities after the Second World War.

Speaking at a conference organised by language testing firm Duolingo, he said the research grants initiated?at this time helped pioneer crucial innovation and their?translation into commercial activity.

¡°It¡¯s that partnership obviously that gave us the internet. It¡¯s that partnership that gave us GPS. That partnership that gave us nuclear power,¡± he said.?

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¡°These are very, very big fundamental things that generated out of that partnership between the American state and American academics, and Trump is dismantling that.¡±

The Trump administration¡¯s attacks on the sector ¨C including arresting thousands of student protestors, blocking billions of dollars in federal funding?and attempting to shutter the Department of Education ¨C have escalated to ¡°another level of pain¡± in the dispute with Harvard University, according to Stewart, who is co-host of the popular The Rest is Politics podcast.

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But, in a conversation on the ¡°shadow world¡± of populism in the 21st century, including the potentially ¡°catastrophic¡± impact of artificial intelligence on jobs,?the possible extinction of the Tory party?and the rise of the Reform party, Stewart had a warning for UK higher education.

¡°Remember that what happens in the US can come here. It¡¯s very, very tempting always to think, ¡®well, America¡¯s gone a bit crazy. That¡¯ll never happen here.¡¯

¡°But actually, most of our experience since the Second World War suggests that in the end, we all get the American bug. American culture is very, very powerful, and what happens in the US moves more easily than we want to acknowledge, so don¡¯t be too smug.¡±

Although?the UK hopes to lure top academics from the US, Stewart said the sector¡¯s financial crisis makes the current situation a much greater opportunity for?places?such as Singapore and Hong Kong ¨C which are ¡°raining emails¡± on his colleagues in research departments.

¡°It¡¯s partly an issue around salary,¡± said Stewart, who earns a ¡°good¡± wage as professor in the practice of grand strategy at Yale.

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¡°But particularly for an ambitious academic, it¡¯s largely about the type of centre you can build, the number of research systems you can bring in, the type of laboratory facilities you can access.

¡°That¡¯s what the US is doing its very best to kill in this tremendous act of self-harm.¡±

Stewart, who has also taught at UK universities, warned that British institutions are ¡°much less free¡± than their US counterparts in some ways, and said he gets ¡°anxious¡± about over-regulation within the sector.

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¡°I was teaching at a university here and the level of scrutiny of the detail of my curriculum, how I taught, how I graded, was quite intense.

¡°In Yale, that's not the case. If I¡¯m hired, the students are prepared to turn up to my classes ¨C nobody literally gets involved.¡±

However, Trump¡¯s actions threaten to reduce international student numbers, which are vital to the success of US colleges. And Stewart said these students have played an ¡°incredible role¡± in US society more broadly ¨C including German-born Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, and South African Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, even if they are no longer ¡°flavour of the month¡±.

¡°There¡¯s no doubt that the US has done unbelievably well and most of the large companies in Silicon Valley have people who spent some time in US universities before they went into the tech sector and the whole world¡¯s elite is increasingly educated in American universities.

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¡°They are comfortable with the US. They want to send their own kids to the US. It¡¯s amazing how much Trump is damaging that.¡±

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com