Trump saying 600,000 Chinese students could come to U.S. draws MAGA backlash
By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and DIDI TANG
WASHINGTON
President Donald Trump seemingly caught his loyal conservative base off-guard and sparked backlash by saying he would allow 600,000 Chinese students into American universities.
That would be a departure for the Trump administration after it added new vetting for student visas, moved to block foreign enrollment at Harvard and expanded the grounds for terminating international students’ ability to study in the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has singled out China, the second highest source of international students in the U.S., saying in May that the State Department would revoke visas for students tied to the Chinese Communist Party and boost vetting of new applicants.
Trump's announcement adds to the confusion about the administration's restrictive visa policies and its approach to China as the superpowers tussle over trade and intensifying tech competition. It also marks another divide with figures in Trump's “Make America Great Again” base, who tout an “America First” agenda and had contested the U.S. inserting itself in the recent Israel-Iran war.
Some of Trump's most ardent supporters — from U.S. Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene to former adviser Steve Bannon and far-right activist Laura Loomer — rejected the idea of welcoming more Chinese students.
It’s not immediately clear why the figure Trump cited was so high — more than twice the number of Chinese students enrolled in the 2023-2024 school year. The total also has been falling in the past few years. The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Here's what to know about Trump's announcement and the reaction:
During a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump was asked by reporters if he would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“President Xi would like me to come to China. It’s a very important relationship. As you know, we are taking a lot of money in from China because of the tariffs and different things,” he said. “I hear so many stories about ‘We are not going to allow their students,’ but we are going to allow their students to come in. We are going to allow it. It’s very important — 600,000 students.”
Trump doubled down at a cabinet meeting Tuesday, sitting next to Rubio, where he said he was “honored” to have Chinese students in the U.S. and said they help colleges stay afloat.
“I told this to President Xi that we’re honored to have their students here," Trump said. “Now, with that, we check and we’re careful, we see who is there.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry also said that Trump told Xi in a June phone call that “the U.S. loves to have Chinese students coming to study in America.”
It was a shift after the State Department announced in late May that it would “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections with the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields."
After decades of growth, the number of Chinese students in the U.S. peaked at 372,532 in the 2019-2020 academic year, just as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. The number slipped to 289,526 in 2022 and further dipped to 277,398 in 2023.
In the past year, several U.S. universities, including the University of Michigan, have ended their joint partnerships with Chinese universities after Republicans raised concerns that U.S. dollars have contributed to China’s tech advancement and military modernization.
Experts say the number of students is likely to fall further because of tense U.S.-China relations and China’s declining population.
There’s growing bipartisan consensus that U.S. schools should not help train Beijing's top talent in critical fields such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence and aerospace technology.
Kurt Campbell, deputy secretary of state in the Biden administration, has said he would like to see Chinese students coming to the U.S. to study humanities and social sciences, “not particle physics.”
During his first term, Trump banned Chinese graduate students who had attended schools with Chinese military ties.
Bannon, one of Trump's former advisers, criticized the announcement Tuesday, saying “there should be no foreign students here for the moment."
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was asked Monday on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” how such a shift would be consistent with Trump’s “America First” push. Lutnick argued that Trump was taking a “rational economic view” and asserted that 15% of American universities and colleges would go out of business without those foreign students.
“I just don’t understand it for the life of me. Those are 600,000 spots that American kids won’t get,” host Laura Ingraham said.
At Tuesday's cabinet meeting, Trump said international students are helping keep some U.S. schools afloat.
“And you know what would happen if they didn’t (come)? Our college system would go to hell very quickly and it wouldn’t be the top colleges. It would be colleges that struggle on the bottom,” Trump said.
An analysis by NAFSA, an association of international educators, found that international students studying at U.S. colleges and universities contributed $43.8 billion to the U.S. economy and supported 378,175 jobs during the 2023-2024 academic year.
Greene, the Republican congresswoman from Georgia, raised questions.
“If refusing to allow these Chinese students to attend our schools causes 15% of them to fail then these schools should fail anyways because they are being propped up by the CCP,” Greene said, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. The foreign ministry has called out the U.S. for what it says is “discriminatory, politically driven and selective law enforcement” against Chinese students arriving in the U.S.
Mao Ning, a ministry spokesperson, said Friday that students have been treated unfairly and subjected to extended interrogations. Mao said some students had their visas revoked and were banned from entering the country after they were told they “might endanger national security.”
“The U.S.’s moves severely violate the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese nationals, impede the flow of people between the two countries and dampen China-U.S. people-to-people exchanges,” she said.
The embassy issued an advisory Monday urging Chinese students not to enter the U.S. through Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, alleging several students were harassed and interrogated by customs officials. The embassy said at least one student was detained for more than 80 hours before being sent back to China. ChristopherBlackwell
Juilliard opened their second school in Tianjin China
Something I noticed recently while traveling… the planes are not full, maybe one half to two thirds full. In fact one of the flights they announced while we were sitting at a gate recently was less than half full. They were telling the passengers they would have to spread out in order to balance the load. Canadians and Europeans are certainly not traveling here as much. Pretty sure the snowbirds will be a lot less, too. The tourism industry will certainly suffer, and that is a BIG industry. But rest assured… he will continue to lie and lie… and lie.
IOW…
Posted by Skye on August 27, 2025, 11:58 pm, in reply to "He really is. " Valued Poster
America may be a “hot country” only in the sense that many people do not want to touch us anymore. But hey… the destruction of our laws, our freedom, our sanity, and our democracy… is a sure fire way to cut down immigration, legal or otherwise.
Re: IOW…
Posted by dancing digits on August 28, 2025, 2:40 pm, in reply to "IOW…" Valued Poster
The mid-term elections will be coming up. It is just about the only way that voters can express their displeasure (yes, I am being polite) with any clout.
Unfortunately Trump is ours till the end of his term. One thing you must admit he is damn good at - alienating people. He has done it on a global scale.
I have no idea what condition we will be in once his term is up. I do know that these next 3 years can't go by too fast.
The only saving grace to any of this - he can't run again.Be the change. . .
trump thinks he can run again or just stay in office!
Posted by Sia on August 28, 2025, 6:38 pm, in reply to "Re: IOW…" ADMIN
That concerns me because no one seems to be telling him NO, he cannot.
He tried it after his first term - said the election of 2020 was rigged. It didn't work. His behavior when the Biden Administration took office was completely atrocious. He did not welcome the incoming President on the White House steps. He did not attend Biden's inauguration. He behaved like an ill-tempered overgrown brat. But he did leave.
I doubt any potential candidate is going to want their chances wrecked by Trump's ass parked in the Oval Office when he longer has the legal right to be there. I doubt the Dems and other parties will be willing to tolerate it either. The Dems want to recapture the WH and other candidates want their shot at it. The military won't pitch him out the door, but they don't have to. They are sworn to obey the President - all they have to do is ignore Trump and listen to the legal President (the next one in office).
Trump gets two terms by law. They don't have to be consecutive. He can not remain, even during a war. I am aware of no law that gives him that power, and I am not sure but I doubt Congress can circumvent the two term limit. There's too many people who want Trump gone. FDR was able to remain in office for at that time there was no law in place limiting his terms. That came after FDR.
I wouldn't put it pass the Brat-in-Office to try. . .but I doubt he will succeed. Be the change. . .
I want to believe that he can't do it, but if he manages to become dictator, as he suggests,
Posted by Sia on August 30, 2025, 12:23 am, in reply to "Oh he may try it but" ADMIN
There will be Civil War. There would HAVE to be.-greenman
I doubt that....
Posted by Skye on August 29, 2025, 11:12 pm, in reply to "Oh he may try it but" Valued Poster
he will serve another term, either, simply because he is too old, as well as incompetent, even if he somehow became a dictator. What I worry about is that he will have caused so much damage to our laws, Constitution, safeguards and democracy by the time his term is up, some other "strong man" who is smarter and worse than him will take over and finish what he started.
People may think that can't happen here in America, but it can. Just look at where we are after just a few months into his term this time. He is crazier than ever but also smarter in some ways, and way more corrupt than in his first term. And too many people are letting him and others get away with the blatant and constant lies, crimes and overreach.
We the people have to say no. We have to resist. Otherwise we will no longer have a country or democracy... of, by, and for the people... the oligarchs will take over. They are well on their way already.
Yes, that is my worry too -
Posted by dancing digits on August 30, 2025, 10:38 pm, in reply to "I doubt that...." Valued Poster
The damage he will cause this country, both internally and with our international relationships is what has me very concerned, especially considering his isn't even half-way through his term in office.Be the change. . .
"It" didn't bother to factually and in depth learn about either candidate. For me, what ever Harris had, she was the only alternative. The felon is doing exactly what I thought. Project 2025 is well entrenched in policy.
Didn't know enough about Harris? C'mon! The other is a convicted felon. It would have been convicted of over a hundred felonies if the DoJ and Georgia DoJ did their jobs. Garland waited too late to begin, and moved too slow when he did. Willis should never have had any kind of relationship with anyone working for her at that time. Very poor judgment.
Otoh, the felon weaponized defense strategy in a lifetime of crime, slowing justice down to a such a crawl, he always escaped justice. Thatr got worse since his first presidency.
The damage he and MAGA caused America is at this time incalculable. The loss of trust and credibility is tops, and he and those who voted for him eqwally share responsibility for that damage. He is too dishonest to admit or me accountable, and his base adds too stupid to their dishonesty.
I don't know if "America" will ever be back. It may take decades to undo his damage, and we don't have that kind of time. Even if "he" goes, bis base is there ready to do it again. You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony
That is my concern too
Posted by Sia on August 30, 2025, 12:26 am, in reply to "I doubt that...." ADMIN
If he dies in office, it's less likely that the VP Vance will get very far. MAGAts simply don't like or believe in him.
If felon dies in office, he will be a martyr and maybe a saint to his base.
Posted by Pikes Peak 14115 on August 31, 2025, 12:47 am, in reply to "That is my concern too" ADMIN
God will have "called him home."
While The Salvation Army doesn't endorse any candidate, enough TSA officers are trumpers so the effect is, as we speak, donations to TSA are WAY down. The church is already closing services and laying off employees. I mean donations are down by at least half.
Imo it has to be because of misplaced belief and trust in the felon. Endorsement may not be official, but it is visible, and a sufficient number of Americans see this as hypocrisy. Not just your run of the mill hypocrisy either. Off the charts hypocrisy. You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony
..I want Mr. Obama to run against him. Many Americans would eagerly vote to re-elect him.
Should he try to simply stay in office, the Republic is over; we should follow Jefferson's advice about watering the Tree of Liberty.-greenman
Of course I can only speak for myself, but
Posted by dancing digits on August 29, 2025, 10:39 pm, in reply to "If he tries to run again" Valued Poster
I would vote for neither. Two terms is the legal limit. I think that law should be adhered to strictly. Once an exception is made, no matter how desirable or popular a two term former president may be, a door now opens that could let the likes of Trump or another power hungry person through.
I am also a very strong believer in the old saying "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely".
Two terms, no exceptions.
But I do agree - many, if not the majority, would vote for Obama for a third term.Be the change. . .
Yep, we would have no other choice. However, success or failure would come down to whether our
Many MAGA may not be liking the felon that well. But if given the chance, they will vote for him again. You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony
on August 26, 2025, 8:37 pm
