Trump defends decision to stop foreign student admissions at Harvard

United States President, Donald Trump, defended his administration’s decision on Sunday to prevent Harvard University from admitting foreign students after a judge issued a temporary block on the policy.

Trump, in a message posted on his Truth Social platform, criticised the well-known university for having close to 31 per cent of its students come from abroad while alleging that their home countries provide “no financial contribution.”

“We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard billions of dollars, but Harvard isn’t exactly forthcoming,” the president wrote.

The issue arose the previous week when Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem withdrew Harvard’s permission to accept students from other countries.

Noem had earlier told the university that it had to release details about student visa holders suspected of being involved in “illegal and violent activities” or risk penalties.

Harvard countered by initiating legal action, arguing that the federal government’s actions were “arbitrary, capricious, unlawful, and unconstitutional.”

A federal judge promptly paused the government’s order, allowing the school to continue admitting international students for the time being.

The Trump administration’s move is part of a wider effort aimed at American colleges. Officials have raised concerns about anti-Semitic incidents and what they consider overly expansive diversity initiatives.

The government has also worked to cancel visas and remove international students who joined pro-Palestinian demonstrations, claiming connections to Hamas, a Palestinian militant group.

Last month, the government halted $2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard, and earlier this month, the Department of Education warned that it might completely cut off research grants.