U.S. President Donald Trump. Yonhap News. 

U.S. political news outlet The Hill reported on the 26th (local time) that U.S. President Donald Trump is facing backlash from his core supporters after reversing his stance on cancelling visas for Chinese students and announcing that he would welcome 600,000 students from China.

Previously, during a South Korea-U.S. summit held at the White House on the 25th with President Lee Jae-myung, President Trump stated, "We are going to get along with China," and added, "There was a lot of talk that we wouldn't accept those students (Chinese students), but we are going to accept them."

President Trump further drew attention by remarking, "600,000 students—that is very important."

This marks a 180-degree turn from the "aggressive visa cancellation" policy for Chinese students announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the end of last May.

At the time, Secretary Rubio stated in a release that Chinese students "associated with the Chinese Communist Party" or "studying in key fields" would be subject to visa cancellations.

Following that, President Trump noted in a social media post after the second high-level U.S.-China trade talks in London last June that he had "always thought it was fine" regarding Chinese students.

The "600,000 Chinese students" mentioned by President Trump is estimated to be more than double the current number of students from China studying at U.S. universities.

According to the "Open Doors" report published last November by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Institute of International Education, there were approximately 277,000 students from China studying in U.S. universities during the 2023–2024 academic year, accounting for about 25% of all foreign students.

President Trump's remarks appear to be focused on actively welcoming Chinese students to alleviate the financial difficulties faced by U.S. universities.

However, The Hill reported that there is pushback within the President's core base, known as MAGA (Make America Great Again).

According to the report, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "We should not be welcoming 600,000 Chinese students into our universities who may be loyal to the Chinese Communist Party."

She added, "Why should we be admitting 600,000 Chinese students to take spots away from American students? We should not allow that."

Laura Loomer, a far-right YouTuber with significant influence in the MAGA camp, also wrote on X, "Nobody wants another 600,000 'students' coming into the United States who are also suspected of acting as spies for the Communist Party."

Yonhap News