Right-wing commentator and Breitbart News senior editor Milo Yiannopoulos warned universities across the country Thursday that the president is "watching."

"American universities should be on notice," Yiannopoulos told Business Insider in a text message, one day after violent protests forced the cancelation of his planned appearance at the University of California, Berkeley.

"The president is watching. The days you could silence conservative and libertarian voices on campus and still expect to collect their tax money are coming to an end."

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Yiannopoulos planned to appear at UC Berkeley Wednesday night, but violent protests broke out on the campus ahead of the event, and it was canceled.

The university said in a statement the violence was "instigated by a group of about 150 masked agitators who came onto campus and interrupted an otherwise nonviolent protest."

President Trump on Thursday morning threatened to cut federal funding to the university.

"If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?" the president tweeted.

Yiannopoulos called himself a "catalyst for this change."

"I am confident Trump and his team are watching closely and will act decisively," he told Business Insider.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), a member of the Appropriations subcommittee on education, on Thursday released a statement calling the president's apparent threat an "abuse of power" and vowing to continue to stand up to Trump's "overreach."