Trump bars foreign students from coming to US to attend Harvard

Josh Wingrove, Bloomberg News on Jun 4, 2025

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed an executive action that prevents foreign nationals from entering the U.S. to study at Harvard University, accusing the school of failing to implement discipline on campus and fostering a dramatic rise in crime.

Trump said the university had responded to a federal government request on violent, illegal or threatening campus behavior by only identifying three foreign students enrolled at the university.

“Harvard’s actions show that it either is not fully reporting its disciplinary records for foreign students or is not seriously policing its foreign students,” Trump said.

The president also accused the university of having “developed extensive entanglements with foreign countries” and criticized its researchers for partnering with Chinese colleagues in ways that could advance Beijing’s military modernization effort.

“Harvard’s conduct has rendered it an unsuitable destination for foreign students and researchers,” Trump said. “Until such time as the university shares the information that the Federal Government requires to safeguard national security and the American public, it is in the national interest to deny foreign nationals access to Harvard under the auspices of educational exchange.”

Trump has sought to reshape Harvard’s policies on a wide range of issues, including admissions and faculty hiring practices, citing the pro-Palestinian protests and incidents of antisemitism that rocked college campuses after the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Harvard, though, has pushed back on Trump’s demands, and seen the federal government move to cut funding and bar international students.

The move comes even as a federal court blocked the Department of Homeland Security’s initial efforts to revoke Harvard’s authorization with the Student and Exchange Visitor Program.

The Trump action may allow the administration to sidestep a ruling from U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs that allowed the university to temporarily continue enrolling students. That earned a rebuke from the White House, which suggested the judge had overreached.

“If these judges want to be secretary of State or the president, they can run for office themselves,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed in a post on X that the “Department of Justice will vigorously defend the President’s proclamation suspending the entry of new foreign students at Harvard University based on national security concerns.”

There are around 6,800 international students enrolled at Harvard, representing around 27% of the student body.

The U.S. has already frozen more than $2.6 billion in federal research funding at Harvard and said the school is not eligible for future federal funding.

Earlier Wednesday, the Trump Administration announced that it was asking an agency to revoke the accreditation of Columbia University, in another effort to target high-profile schools.

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