On November 11, 2025, President Trump (Donald Trump) of the United States expressed on Fox News that allowing foreign students to study in the U.S. is a good thing. He opposes reducing the number of foreign students as it would harm the financial situation of higher education in America.
Trump stated on the program, “You can’t cut in half the number of foreign students coming to our country; doing so would destroy our entire university and college system, and I don’t want to do that. I do believe admitting foreign students is a good thing. You see, I want to maintain good relationships with countries around the world.”
Fox News host Laura Ingraham repeatedly questioned Trump about why he doesn’t decrease the number of foreign students studying in the U.S., especially Chinese students. She stated that reducing foreign students is a policy supported by Trump’s followers, believing it would make it easier for American students to enter universities.
Trump responded by saying that reducing the number of foreign students would financially harm American universities and could even lead to the closure of some schools, including historically black colleges. He explained, “We do have a lot of students from China, and we’ve always had students from China and other countries. We also have a massive university and college system. If we cut this number in half, it might make some people happy, but half of America’s universities would go bankrupt.”
He added, “We generate trillions of dollars in revenue from students. You know, the tuition fees paid by students from most foreign countries are more than twice that of local students. I want to see our school system thrive. It’s not just something I want to do; I see it as a business.”
According to Trump’s latest statements and related policies in the U.S. this year, it highlights the Trump administration’s plans to continue approving schools to admit international students but opposing the acceptance of foreign students who have overstayed, violated laws, or are suspected of supporting terrorism, anti-American or anti-Israel activities, or involvement in espionage.
The controversy surrounding these international students can be traced back to the Israel-Palestine conflict, during which anti-Israel and anti-American activities occurred at various schools. Schools like Harvard refused to provide information on foreign students involved in “known illegal, dangerous, or violent behavior,” and in recent years, there have been reports of Chinese students and scholars suspected of participating in Communist Party espionage activities, prompting the government to tighten visa-related regulations.
In March, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a Columbia University student participating in anti-Israel protests and accused schools of tolerating such behavior. In May, the U.S. State Department ordered U.S. embassies worldwide to suspend student visa interviews to enhance the review process, especially concerning information on applicants from social media.
In the same month, the U.S. government ordered a halt to Harvard’s acceptance of international students and suspended new student visa appointments. In June, Trump stated that the government would review Harvard’s relationship with the Chinese Communist Party while keeping the door open for study policies to ensure national security.
In August this year, the U.S. State Department announced the revocation of over 6,000 F, J, M student visas, citing reasons such as overstaying, illegal status, or supporting terrorism.
Harvard has filed a lawsuit against federal visa restrictions, and a judge temporarily blocked the ban, but the government is appealing.
The U.S. government has now proposed the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” initiative, aiming to reduce the number of foreign students in each school by partnering with universities while providing opportunities for schools to prioritize federal funding. The plan will set a limit on international students: foreign visa-holding undergraduate students should not exceed 15% of the total student population, and students from a single country should not exceed 5%.
According to the Institute of International Education, China has consistently been one of the leading sources of international students in the U.S., with approximately one in four international students in the U.S. hailing from China.
Data from the international student enrollment database “Open Doors” shows that China was the largest source of international students in the U.S. for 15 consecutive years until it was surpassed by India last year. The number of Chinese students in the U.S. peaked in the 2019-2020 academic year at over 372,000 and declined to over 270,000 by the 2023-2024 academic year. This decline is related to the COVID-19 pandemic and reflects the increasingly tense relationship between China and the U.S.
(This article references reports from Bloomberg and CNN)