Supporters of President Donald Trump are outraged by his announcement that 600,000 Chinese students will be allowed into the United States to study.
Trump made the comments at the White House on Monday as trade talks with China continue, saying it was “very important” to allow Chinese students into the country.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, was among the critics of the plan, saying the U.S. “should not let in” students who may be loyal to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via an email sent outside regular business hours.
Why It Matters
Trump’s announcement marks a reversal from his administration’s previous hard-line approach and the “America First” policies that his base of supporters embrace. Earlier this year, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the U.S. would “aggressively” revoke visas for Chinese students and tighten future visa screening. But Trump said in June that he had “always been in favor” of allowing Chinese students into the country.
Trump’s 600,000 figure would be the most Chinese students ever admitted to the U.S. The number of Chinese students peaked at 372,000 in the 2019-20 academic year, when Trump was first president, according to the Institute of International Education. That number dropped after the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2022-23 academic year, there were about 290,000 Chinese students studying in the U.S., which fell to about 277,000 in the 2023-24 academic year.
What To Know
Members of the president’s Make America Great Again movement, including Trump loyalist Laura Loomer, have criticized the plan, saying it would counteract the administration’s mass deportation efforts.
Others hit back at Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who said on Fox News‘ The Ingraham Angle that Trump’s view was that if Chinese students were not allowed to attend U.S. universities, “you’d empty them from the top. All the students would go up to better schools, and the bottom 15 percent of universities and colleges would go out of business in America.”
Chase Geiser, a MAGA influencer, wrote on X, “Did Lutnick really just argue that Trump is letting 600,000 Chinese students into America so Americans will go to worse schools and keep them from closing?”
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday: “I hear so many stories about we’re not going to allow their students. We’re going to allow their students to come in. We’re going to allow. It’s very important, 600,000 students. It’s very important. But we’re going to get along with China.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Monday: “The president’s point of view is that what would happen if you didn’t have those 600,000 students is that you’d empty them from the top. All the students would go up to better schools, and the bottom 15 percent of universities and colleges would go out of business in America. So his view is he’s taking a rational economic view, which is classic Donald Trump.”
Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X: “We should not let in 600,000 CHINESE students to attend American colleges and universities that may be loyal to the CCP. If refusing to allow these Chinese students to attend our schools causes 15 percent of them to fail then these schools should fail anyways because they are being propped up by the CCP. Why are we allowing 600,000 students from China to replace our American student’s opportunities? We should never allow that.”
Laura Loomer, a MAGA influencer, wrote on X: “If we are only mass deporting 1,000 illegals each day but allowing 600,000 Chinese spies to come to our country, how can we call them mass deportations? Do the math. We will never get rid of the millions who came in under Biden. It’s basic math.”
Conservative attorney and commentator Marina Medvin wrote on X: “I don’t know a single Trump voter in favor of this.”
Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, addressed Chinese students being interrogated on arrival in the U.S. during a news briefing on Friday, saying: “We urge the U.S. to face the issue squarely, take China’s concerns seriously, act on the U.S. leader’s statement of welcoming Chinese students, and stop the groundless interrogations, harassment and repatriation against them.”
What Happens Next
Relations between China and the U.S. have stabilized after Trump extended a trade truce for another 90 days earlier in August.
It remains to be seen whether Trump’s stated number of 600,000 Chinese students will be allowed into the U.S.
The post MAGA Rages Over Trump’s Chinese Student Numbers: ‘Should Never Allow That’ appeared first on Newsweek.
