Donald Trump doesn’t seem to be aware of his own administration’s new restrictions on student visas.
When asked by a reporter when the U.S. would resume interviews for student visas, which were halted Tuesday, the president was clueless.
“When do you think your administration could resume these interviews?” the reporter asked.
“On what?” Trump replied, clearly bemused.
The reporter then said “on the foreign student visas.” Trump thought she was saying “French,” but then others around clarified that she was referring to all foreign student visas. Trump was still unclear, and seemed to be stuck on previous questions.
“What are you refer—foreign visas for what? Are you talking about for colleges?” Trump asked. The reporter replied in the affirmative, to which Trump said, “Ok, so you’re off of Israel, so now you’re talking about colleges, right?”
REPORTER: When could the administration resume interviews for foreign students visa?TRUMP: On what?REPORTER: Foreign student visasTRUMP: For the French?REPORTER: All the foreign studentsTRUMP: What are you referring– foreign visas for what? pic.twitter.com/ynKnbjQ0Xt
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 28, 2025
The reporter again said yes, which seemed to clear things up for the president. His answer, though, was meandering and he started to rant about Harvard University, which he said “has been a disaster,” accusing them of taking “$5 billion-plus” which “nobody” knew about.
“I’d rather see that money go to trade schools, and by the way, they’re totally antisemitic at Harvard, as you know, and some other colleges, too, in all fairness to them, and it’s been exposed. Very exposed,” Trump said, bragging about “exposing” how much money the university is taking, before expounding his idea to boost funding to trade schools.
Trump on Harvard. “They’re taking $5 billion. And I’d rather see that money going to trade schools … everyone is coming up to me saying, ‘We love the idea of trade schools.’ With that kind of money and money from others, but money from them. You could have the best trade… pic.twitter.com/vqZth4Mumw
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 28, 2025
The Trump administration’s ban on new international student visa interviews doesn’t just apply to Harvard, however. All new student visa interviews are frozen until the administration can determine how to vet the social media activity of applicants, according to a cable sent by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to U.S. embassies.
Trump’s mind seems to be all over the place, with noticeable signs of cognitive decline. Even if his initial answer to the reporter’s question was off due to not being able to hear, his answer once he understood the question wasn’t on topic. This suggests that Trump didn’t know about the halt in student visa interviews, even though the decision came from Rubio the day before. Perhaps Trump’s fellow conservatives should be worried about the current president’s mental fitness instead of being fixated on Joe Biden.
The post Trump Seems to Have No Idea What’s Happening With Student Visas appeared first on New Republic.
