Photo: Alamy | Analysis by Summer Lane
President Donald Trump made waves Monday night during an interview with Laura Ingraham while explaining his stance on a topic that has drawn some criticism among conservatives: Chinese college students coming to America.
In her interview with the president, Ingraham referenced previous comments from President Trump regarding the importation of young Chinese college students into the American university system and asked him why bringing 600,000 Chinese students into the United States was a “pro-Maga” stance.
For context, in the past, President Trump has noted that he is “in favor” of allowing Chinese students to continue to study here and allowing current students to stay. The “600,000” number Ingraham referred to is a broad number that was previously thrown out by President Trump when discussing allowing more Chinese students to come in.
According to the Migration Policy Institute, Chinese student enrollment has been decreasing in the United States, with 277,000 attending American schools between 2023-24.
The U.S. State Department, under President Trump, has been decidedly aggressive about revoking visas (or at least intensely reviewing them) for those seeking to come to the United States from hostile countries, particularly China.
In his comments to Ingraham on Monday, President Trump explained his position on allowing some Chinese students to continue studying here. This, of course, comes amid his continuing trade negotiations with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
President Trump said, “We do have a lot of people coming in from China. We always have, China and other countries. We also have a massive system of colleges and universities. And if we were to cut that in half, which perhaps makes some people happy, you would have half the colleges in the United States would go out of business.”
“So what?” Ingraham retorted.
“I think that’s a big deal,” President Trump said.
Ingraham pressed the president on this issue, suggesting that the Chinese “spy on us” and “steal our intellectual property.”
President Trump said he didn’t necessarily “want” Chinese students here but suggested that he was viewing the situation through a “business” lens. He also said foreign students pay “more than double” when they come to study in America.
He added, “…One thing: you don’t want to cut half of the people, half of the students from all over the world that are coming into our country, destroy our entire university and college system. I don’t want to do that.”
President Trump also took aim at Ingraham’s suggestion that it may not be “pro-MAGA” to support the continued importation of Chinese students.
“MAGA was MY idea…I know what MAGA wants better than anybody else,” he said. “And MAGA wants to see our country thrive.”
President Trump’s comments, in context, make sense. However, some conservative critics are wholly opposed to the idea of allowing the Chinese to continue to gain a foothold in American universities, which are already hotbeds for far-left ideologies.
And consider this: foreign countries like Qatar and China have reportedly poured tens of billions of dollars into American campuses just over the past few years, according to The Free Press. This suggests that foreign countries could already have considerable influence on domestic U.S. campuses.
Former National Security Advisor General Mike Flynn, in response to President Trump’s comments to Laura Ingraham, wrote on X, “We simply don’t need to help the Chinese anymore with their plans to be the sole superpower this century. Let’s not give the Chinese anymore leverage than they already have. They’ve been ripping us off for years. Because of that they have significant advantages over us now—and they have zero desire nor intent to make America great again.”
In all fairness, Flynn also pointed out that 600,000 potential Chinese students represent just “0.3 percent” of the total college enrollment in the United States (around 19 million), which he described as “not even a drop in the bucket.”
Will allowing such a small percentage of Chinese students to study in America actually harm the United States, as Laura Ingraham seemed to suggest? Or is it merely a “drop in the bucket” that will keep the U.S. on good terms with China – something that is very important, too? President Trump appears firm in his conviction that it’s the right thing to do, despite conservative criticism on the matter, to maintain good relations with China. And for now, that will have to be enough.
