Overview
- In a Fox News interview, President Trump said cutting foreign students would "destroy" the university system and claimed they bring in "trillions of dollars."
- The White House has indicated a target of about 600,000 visas for Chinese students over the next two years, roughly doubling recent annual levels near 300,000.
- MAGA and Republican critics including Michael Flynn, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ron DeSantis denounced the plan, citing espionage risks and fewer spots for Americans.
- Even as he pushes expansion, the administration has tightened vetting, revoked more than 80,000 nonimmigrant visas—including about 8,000 student visas—and is advancing a compact to cap international undergraduates at 15% overall and 5% per country.
- The stance follows a reversal from earlier threats to aggressively revoke Chinese student visas after Trump’s recent engagement with Xi Jinping during broader trade negotiations.