President Donald Trump accused foreign countries whose students attend Harvard University of contributing “nothing” financially toward their education as the White House attempts to block the school from enrolling students from abroad.
“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,” the president wrote in a late-night post to Truth Social. “Nobody told us that!”
Trump continued to demand that Harvard release the names of foreign students and countries who haven’t financed their education, arguing that the university owes the White House an explanation since it has been given billions in federal funding.
“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,” he wrote. “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!”
The Department of Homeland Security revoked the school’s University Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification on Thursday for failing to sufficiently address the Trump administration’s concerns over antisemitism, infiltration from the Chinese Communist Party, and diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. The directive essentially prohibited Harvard from enrolling foreign students and canceled the school’s student visa program. The majority of foreign students enrolled come from China, India, and Canada.
“Harvard’s leadership has created an unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals, including many Jewish students,” DHS said in a press release.
“Many of these agitators are foreign students,” it continued. “Harvard’s leadership further facilitated, and engaged in coordinated activity with the CCP, including hosting and training members of a CCP paramilitary group complicit in the Uyghur genocide.”
Harvard promptly sued, saying the directive would affect more than 7,000 visa holders and arguing that the Trump administration was in “blatant violation of the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, and the Administrative Procedure Act.”
HARVARD SUES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER BLOCKING ENROLLMENT OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
“It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students,” the lawsuit said.
On Friday, a federal judge granted Harvard’s request to temporarily halt the DHS’s decision to block the Ivy League institution from enrolling foreign students.
