US President Donald Trump said cutting the number of Chinese students in half would "paralyze the entire system" of American universities, defending his administration’s plan to issue visas to roughly 600,000 Chinese students despite criticism from conservative commentators.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump argued that foreign students — particularly those from China — are essential to sustaining the financial stability of US higher education.
Asked how the proposal aligns with his "Make America Great Again" agenda, given concerns that Chinese students may take places from Americans and funnel money into universities, Trump said, “We have a large higher education system. If we cut that in half, maybe some people would be happy, but half of the universities in America would go out of business.”
He added that having students from around the world was “a good thing,” saying he wanted to “live peacefully with other countries.” When the host claimed Chinese students spy on the United States and steal intellectual property — and suggested that “at least the French don’t do that” — Trump replied, “I’m not so sure,” citing tariff issues with France.
The host also brought up recent remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who warned that a Taiwan contingency could threaten Japan’s survival, and asked whether China is a friend of the United States. Trump said many US allies are not truly friends, arguing that “they take more advantage of the United States in trade than China does.”
