Trump moots 'make Harvard great again' plan: A 15% cap on foreign students

Amid his ongoing crackdown on Harvard University, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday stressed that the institution should cap the number of international students, proposing a limit of 15 per cent on foreign admissions at the Ivy League university.

“Harvard has got to behave themselves. Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect, and all they’re doing is getting in deeper and deeper,” Trump said while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office.

#WATCH | On student visa issue, US President Donald Trump says, "... We don't want to see shopping centres explode. We don't want to see the kind of riots that you had, and I'll tell you what, many of those students didn't go anywhere, many of those students were troublemakers… pic.twitter.com/dZCpcUJM4r

— ANI (@ANI) May 28, 2025

More from World

'Harvard has $52,000,000:' Trump launches fresh attack at university, defends ban on foreign students Trump fury mounts on Harvard, White House moves to cancel $100 mn in funds

“We don’t want to see shopping centres explode. We don’t want to see the kind of riots that you had, and I’ll tell you what, many of those students didn’t go anywhere, many of those students were troublemakers caused by the radical left,” Trump told reporters.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

‘The cries of this widow will echo’: In first public remarks, Erika Kirk warns Charlie’s killers they’ve ‘unleashed a fire’

Trump urges Nato to back sanctions on Russia, calls for 50–100% tariffs on China

He also stated that Harvard should provide his administration with a list of its current international students, although he did not specify what action might follow.

“Harvard has to show us their lists. They have foreign students - almost 31 per cent of their students. We want to know where those students come from, whether they are troublemakers, and what countries they come from….These countries aren’t helping us. They’re not investing in Harvard … we are. So why would 31 per cent - why would a number so big…I think they should have a cap of maybe around 15 per cent, not 31 per cent,” he said.

Trump’s clash with Harvard, which started during last year’s pro-Palestinian protests on campus, has turned into a wider campaign against elite universities. He has often criticised top US colleges, calling them centres for “Marxist maniacs and lunatics,” and said on Monday he may shift federal funding from places like Harvard to trade schools instead.

The government has frozen billions in grants and contracts to Harvard and warned it could cut the rest if the university doesn’t share information about its foreign students and make changes suggested by officials. Trump has also slammed Harvard for giving jobs to top Democrats in teaching and leadership roles.