White House clarifies position on Chinese students after MAGA backlash against 600,000 figure

Public outrage over a statement from President Donald Trump about Chinese students allowed into the U.S. led to a clarification on Thursday from the White House.

The president was speaking to reporters on Monday with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at his side when he addressed the negotiations with China.

'President Trump isn't proposing an increase in student visas for Chinese students. ... It's simply a continuation of existing policy.'

"President Xi would like me to come to China. It's a very important relationship. As you know, we are taking a lot of money in from China because of the tariffs and different things," Trump said.

"I hear so many stories about ‘We are not going to allow their students,’ but we are going to allow their students to come in," he added. "We are going to allow it. It's very important — 600,000 students."

The admission from a president who had been very open about his opposition to Chinese expansionism and foreign-born students led to outrage from his supporters. There were 277,398 students from China allowed to attend U.S. colleges in 2023.

He went on to argue later that the high number of Chinese students would help keep U.S. schools financially solvent.

"We're honored to have their students here," he said.

On Thursday, the White House clarified his statement.

"President Trump isn't proposing an increase in student visas for Chinese students. The 600K references two years' worth of visas. It's simply a continuation of existing policy," the statement reads.

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In May, the State Department had issued a statement indicating that they would be "aggressively" revoking visas for Chinese students if they were found to have links to the Chinese Community Party.

"We will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong," State Sec. Marco Rubio added.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry had opposed the opposition to student visas and called on the U.S. government to "protect the legitimate rights and interests of international students, including those of Chinese students."

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