“It’s very insulting to say students can’t come here… I like that other country’s students come here,” said Trump in a cabinet meeting on August 26.
Trump’s comments came a day after saying he would allow 600,000 Chinese students into American universities, more than double the 277,000 Chinese students recorded in the US last year.
The remarks are a dramatic departure from the administration’s recent actions, revoking over 6,000 international student visas, implementing a travel ban on 12 countries, and attempting to strip America’s oldest university of its ability to enrol overseas students.
When pressed on the government’s policy towards Chinese students, Trump said: “We’re getting along very well with China, and I’m getting along very well with President Xi.”
“We’re honoured to have their students here… we check and we’re careful, and we see who’s there. We have a tremendous college system, that’s why they’re here,” he continued.
Sitting beside secretary of state Marco Rubio, Trump said the two were “in the same position”, though his words are a far cry from Rubio’s vow to “aggressively revoke” Chinese student visas earlier this summer, which shocked stakeholders and caused widespread disquiet among students.
US colleges with alleged ties to China have also come under scrutiny from the administration, with homeland security secretary Kristi Noem accusing Harvard of working with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
In Trump’s own June 4 proclamation attempting to block visas for Harvard students, he accused the university of receiving Chinese funding, as well as “hosting” and “training” members of a CCP paramilitary organisation.
Yet in a break from past attacks, this week Trump acknowledged universities’ reliance on international students’ tuition fees, saying the college system would “go to hell very quickly” without them. “It wouldn’t be the top colleges; it would be colleges that struggle on the bottom,” he said.
In recent months, several of America’s most prestigious institutions have succumbed to deals with the Trump administration, with Columbia handing over USD $221m in return for settling various civil rights and employment claims and restoring $400m in terminated funding.
As of last week, more than 15,000 Harvard alumni and supporters signed an open letter urging the university not to “give in” to Trump, as the government continues to push for a USD $500m deal.
It’s very insulting to say students can’t come here… I like that other country’s students come here
Donald Trump
Until now, sector advocacy about the financial contribution of international students has largely fallen on deaf ears. According to the US Department of Commerce, international students contributed over $50bn to the US economy in 2023.
Amid visa challenges and falling interest in the study destination, recent predictions have forecasted a potential 30-40% decline in international enrolments this fall, which would deprive the US economy of $7bn in spending, according to international education association NAFSA.
When asked about Trump’s plan to more than double Chinese student numbers in the US, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News that the President was taking a “rational economic view”, asserting that 15% of US colleges would be in deficit without international students.
But the remarks have alarmed other members of Trump’s base, with former White House adviser Steve Bannon saying earlier this month that there shouldn’t be “any foreign students in the country right now”.
The number of Chinese students in the US has been on the decline since peaking at more than 370,000 in 2019/20, with India surpassing China as America’s largest source country in 2023.
According to experts, hostile policies under the Trump administration have “heightened anxiety” among prospective Chinese students causing many to consider other destinations.
Meanwhile, embassies in China were some of the hardest hit by the State Department’s visa interview freeze this spring, with students unable to obtain appointments after they were suspended by the US government for nearly a month in June.
On top of the policy environment, affordability and return on investment are becoming increasingly important factors shaping Chinese families’ decision-making, contributing to the decline as students increasingly turn to closer-to-home options within Asia.
The Chinese embassy in Washington DC did not immediately respond to The PIE’s request for comment, though they previously called Rubio’s May announcement a “politically motivated and discriminatory move”, hurting the lawful rights of international students from China.
The US State Department is yet to respond to The PIE’s request for comment.
