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President Donald Trump on Monday defended his administration’s plan to offer 600,000 visas to Chinese students — a move that has drawn criticism from within conservative circles.
Fox News’ Laura Ingraham pressed Trump during an interview on "The Ingraham Angle," questioning how the proposal was "pro-MAGA" if it crowded out spots for American students and whether universities were "getting rich" from Chinese money.
Trump argued that foreign students — particularly from China — are vital to keeping U.S. universities financially stable, adding that cutting the number of Chinese students in half would cripple the system.
"We do have a lot of people coming in from China. We always have, China and other countries. We also have a massive system of colleges and universities. And if we were to cut that in half, which perhaps makes some people happy, you would have half the colleges in the United States would go out of business," he said.
President Donald Trump on Monday defended his administration’s plan to offer 600,000 visas to Chinese students — a move that has drawn criticism from within conservative circles. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)
"I actually think it's good to have outside, countries. Look, I want to be able to get along with the world, not the French, though," he added.
"The Chinese, they spy on us, they steal our intellectual property," Ingraham shot back.
"Do you think the French are better?" Trump said.
"Yeah," Ingraham replied.
"I’m not so sure," Trump said, citing French tariffs.
Trump continued to frame the issue in economic terms, saying Chinese students pay far more in tuition than Americans and help sustain the system.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's 2017 law requires Chinese nationals to cooperate with CCP intelligence from anywhere in the world. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
"It's not that I want them, but I view it as a business," he said. "One thing you don't want to cut half of the people, half of the students from all over the world that are coming into our country, destroy our entire university and college system. I don't want to do that."
Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea last week, saying the two leaders reached agreement on "almost everything." Following the meeting, China reportedly held off on some of its toughest export restrictions for critical minerals, while the U.S. delayed plans to impose triple-digit tariffs.
The remarks mark a reversal from earlier this year, when the Trump administration said it would "aggressively revoke" Chinese student visas amid espionage concerns. In August, Trump changed course and announced plans to expand the program dramatically.
More than 277,000 Chinese students studied in the U.S. during the 2023–2024 school year, according to the Institute of International Education — the second-largest foreign student population after India. That figure is down from a peak of over 372,000 in 2019–2020.
The comments come as the State Department has intensified its visa crackdown, revoking more than 80,000 nonimmigrant visas — including about 8,000 student visas — since the start of Trump’s term. Officials say many were revoked over criminal activity or participation in rallies against U.S. support for Israel.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revoked 80,000 non-immigrant visas, including 8,000 student visas. (Getty Images)
Former national security advisor Michael Flynn criticized Trump’s comments on X, writing: "Sorry Mr. @POTUS if we didn’t allow 600K Chinese spies to steal even more intellectual property and other ideas about how to dominate are our way of life, it wouldn’t make a dent in U.S. colleges and universities."
"We simply don’t need to help the Chinese anymore with their plans to be the sole superpower this century," Flynn added. "They’ve been ripping us off for years. Because of that they have significant advantages over us now—and they have zero desire nor intent to make America great again."
China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law requires all citizens to cooperate with Chinese Communist Party intelligence efforts in the name of national security.
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China expert Gordon Chang, whose father fled Mao Zedong’s communist government after earning a master’s degree in the U.S., called the visa proposal "wrong-headed."
"Taking away spots in schools from Americans and giving them to future Chinese Communists is wrong, and admitting students who have been weaponized by the CCP to commit acts of espionage is extraordinarily dangerous," Chang told Fox News Digital. "American presidents for decades have allowed China’s regime to maintain in our country organizations and extensive networks of agents and diplomats that surveil, intimidate, and coerce Chinese and other students."
