Overview

• Trump reiterated the stance at a Cabinet meeting, calling the U.S. “honored” to host Chinese students and saying applicants would be carefully vetted.
• The pledge marks a reversal from earlier moves to tighten visa scrutiny, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s plan to aggressively revoke some Chinese student visas.
• Roughly 277,000 Chinese students are currently enrolled in U.S. universities, making the new target more than double recent totals.
• Conservative allies, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Laura Loomer and Steve Bannon, criticized the move, while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick defended it as critical to keeping financially vulnerable colleges open.
• The comments came during active trade negotiations with Beijing under an extended tariff truce through November, as the Chinese embassy warned students about reported questioning and device inspections at Houston’s airport.