New Delhi : US President Donald Trump, on Monday, announced that he would open the door to 600,000 Chinese students entering the country to study at American colleges. Trump’s decision is a sharp U-turn from his administration’s earlier promise to “aggressively revoke” visas for Chinese nationals, particularly those linked to the Communist Party or sensitive research fields. “We’re going to allow their students to come in.
He added that Beijing must ensure Washington access to rare earth magnets or face 200 per cent tariffs, though assuring that Chinese students would still be allowed to study in the US. The move comes amid high-stakes trade talks with Beijing. The world’s two largest economies are holding a fragile truce while seeking common ground on tariffs, rare earth supplies critical to American industries, and China’s access to US-made advanced AI chips.
Conservative commentator Laura Loomer, a fierce Trump cheerleader online, blasted the decision in a series of posts. She branded Chinese students “CCP spies” and said it undercut the President’s crackdown on immigration. I didn’t vote for more Muslims and Chinese people to be imported to my country… Please don’t Make America China. Other MAGA voices piled on. John Strand, once convicted of storming the US Capitol on January 6, posted: “We educate our enemies. This isn’t academic exchange. It’s exploitation.”
The far-right X account ‘Libs of TikTok’ warned of organised “spy rings” in US universities. A pro-Trump handle calling itself ‘Chief Trumpster’ argued the plan amounted to “mass importation” that would take jobs and education opportunities from Americans. Grilling Lutnick, she argued it boosted elite universities like Harvard, UCLA and Berkeley, which she called “factories of anti-American propaganda”.
Despite the MAGA backlash, Trump appears determined to maintain the facade of wanting to “get along” with China. He can ill-afford an extended trade war with Beijing, which remains one of America’s largest creditors and its third-largest trading partner. In May 2025, US-China trade in goods topped $28 billion, including $19 billion in imports.
Beijing has also shown that if antagonised, it can strike back at Trump politically. During the tit-for-tat tariff battles earlier this year, China quietly restricted US exports of beef, poultry and natural gas. The measures squeezed American farmers and energy producers, who make up Trump’s strongest support base.
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