Overview

• At a Cabinet meeting, Trump said the U.S. is "honored" to host Chinese students and emphasized that applicants would be carefully vetted.
• The 600,000 figure is more than double the current Chinese enrollment of roughly 270,000–277,000 and would surpass the 2019 peak of about 372,000.
• Prominent conservatives, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and activist Laura Loomer, criticized the plan, and Fox News host Laura Ingraham questioned its fit with "America First."
• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick defended the move as an economic necessity, warning the "bottom 15 percent" of U.S. colleges could fail without international students; Chinese students generated over $14 billion in 2023.
• China’s Foreign Ministry urged Washington to end what it called harassment of Chinese students, while the White House and State Department offered no details on how the new target would be executed.