In a statement this week, President Donald Trump once again took aim at Harvard University as part of ongoing disputes over the Ivy League school’s policies and positions.
This time, the president focused on the university’s practice of admitting a large number of international students in a manner he believes disadvantages the US.
According to The Hill :
“Why isn’t Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their student’s education, nor do they ever intend to,” Trump wrote.
“Nobody told us that! 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. We want those names and countries. Harvard has $52,000,000, use it, and stop asking for the Federal Government to continue GRANTING money to you!”
Harvard enrolled about 6,800 international students during the 2024-2025 academic year — about 27 percent of the entire student population, according to the university’s records available online.
Trump’s latest remarks come on the heels of his crackdown on Harvard’s foreign-student admission process.
As Fox News reported over the weekend:
The Department of Homeland Security moved to terminate Harvard’s visa program after the university allegedly failed to provide extensive behavioral records of student visa holders the agency had requested.
The records sought include any footage of protest activity involving student visa holders, even if it’s not criminal, and the disciplinary records of all student visa holders in the past five years.
Requested records also include footage or documentation of illegal, dangerous or violent activity by student visa holders, any records of threats or the deprivation of rights of other students or university personnel.
Harvard called the new policy “pernicious” and accused the administration of departing from “decades of settled practice” and coming “without rational explanation.” The university also said the policy was “carried out abruptly without any of the robust procedures the government has established to prevent just this type of upheaval to thousands of students’ lives.”
At least a dozen Harvard students have had their student visas revoked over campus protest activity. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said before Congress on Tuesday that the administration has probably revoked thousands already and would “proudly” revoke more.
The administration has already frozen close to $3 billion in federal funding to the university, largely dedicated to research, over claims that Harvard has not adequately responded to alleged campus antisemitism in protests and has not moved to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
Here’s another clip of Trump’s thoughts on the matter:
VIDEO
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