Donald Trump’s latest salvo at Harvard University: ‘Cap foreign admissions at 15%’

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday continued his tirade against the prestigious Harvard University, suggesting that the institution cap the number of foreign students it admits at 15 percent. The fresh salvo came weeks after the Trump administration withheld the university’s grants worth billions of dollars.

US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 28, 2025.(AFP)

Donald Trump remarked in the White House that US citizens who want to study at Harvard and other Ivy League universities are unable to get admission because of foreign students.

“I think they should have a cap of maybe around 15%, not 31%,” Trump said Wednesday at the White House, according to Bloomberg. “We have people who want to go to Harvard and other schools, but they can’t get in because we have foreign students there.”

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Trump said the Ivy League school needs to show the administration their current list of students from other countries.

“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, according to Reuters.

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In recent days, Trump has railed against Harvard, calling it a hotbed of liberalism and antisemitism. Last week, Trump moved to block Harvard from enrolling foreign students, a decision suspended by a judge later.

“Why isn’t Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their students’ education, nor do they ever intend to,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.

Also Read | ‘I went numb’: Indian woman at Harvard fears future after Trump moves to block foreign admissions

“We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isn’t exactly forthcoming,” he added.

Harvard is the wealthiest US university with an endowment valued at $53.2 billion in 2024. According to an AP report, foreign students make up for around 26% of the total students in the university. 

The prestigious university hosts over 7,000 people from outside the US, including foreign students and those visiting on exchange programs.