Donald Trump answers questions during a press conference at the White House on June 27, 2025, in Washington, D.C. In an interview during a trip to Beijing, Donald Trump delivered a ringing defense of international students, but there is no evidence it signals a change in his administration’s immigration policies. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
... More
In Beijing, Donald Trump delivered a ringing defense of international students, but there is no evidence it signals a change in his administration’s immigration policies. The president has made positive statements on international students before. Despite this, the Trump administration has enacted or proposed several measures to restrict international students, but has not implemented any measures to attract more students to America. Analysts say this indicates that Trump’s policy team, led by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, pursues its own immigration agenda without regard for Donald Trump’s views or statements on high-skilled immigration or international students.
Trump Argues For A Liberalized Immigration Policy Toward International Students
During an interview with Fox News Host Sean Hannity on May 14 in Beijing, Donald Trump was asked about his previous statements supporting the admission of international students from China. “They come, good students,” said Trump. “I could tell them, ‘I don’t want any students,’ is a very insulting thing to say to a country. They would then immediately go out and start building universities all over China. But if you don’t have those students, good students, by the way, if you don’t, and, and we do another thing, you know, if they’re good and they want to stay in America, we, we won’t give them a green card and things like that.”
