U.S. President Donald Trump moved to reassure Chinese international students amid rising concerns over his administration’s tightening grip on academia, particularly targeting students from China.
“They’re going to be ok. It’s going to work out fine,” Trump told reporters late Friday when asked what message he had for Chinese students studying in the United States.
This comes just days after the Trump administration announced it would more closely scrutinize permissions for Chinese nationals in U.S. colleges, escalating tensions with universities across the country.
“We just want to check out the individual students we have. And that’s true with all colleges,” Trump added, signaling a softer tone after a week of harsh policy moves.
The administration’s stance, however, has drawn legal challenges. A federal judge on Thursday extended a temporary block on Trump’s attempt to prevent Harvard University from enrolling international students.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed earlier in the week to “aggressively” revoke visas for Chinese students.
His office has already canceled thousands, citing reasons ranging from involvement in protests against Israel’s Gaza offensive to minor infractions like traffic violations.
The Trump administration has demanded Harvard hand over a list of specific students the government is investigating. The university has refused.
“I don’t know why Harvard’s not giving us the list,” Trump said Friday. “There’s something going on because Harvard is not giving us a list. They ought to give us a list and get themselves out of trouble.”
He went further to suggest, “They don’t want to give the list because they have names on there that supposedly are quite bad.”
During Harvard’s graduation ceremony this week, university president Alan Garber was met with a standing ovation after urging institutions to “stand firm” against government overreach in education.
Trump closed his comments by reaffirming his stance: “We want people that can love our country and take care of our country and cherish our country.”
International students currently make up just under 6% of the U.S. university population, significantly lower than in the U.K., where the figure is 25%.
