TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - U.S. President Donald Trump has instructed Harvard University to cap the number of foreign students at approximately 15 percent of total admissions each academic year.
Citing concerns that some international students are "very radical" and "troublemakers," Trump increased pressure on Harvard to submit a list of its foreign-born students along with their countries of origin.
"I think they should have a cap of maybe around 15%, not 31%. We have people who want to go to Harvard and other schools; they can't get in because we have foreign students there," Trump said during a press briefing at the White House on Wednesday, as quoted by Forbes.
"We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Countr," he wrote in a post on social media.
According to Harvard University, 6,793 international students were admitted for the 2024–2025 academic year, making up 27.2 percent of the total intake.
Among students from Asian countries, China has the largest representation at Harvard with around 2,100 students, followed by India (790), South Korea (430), Japan (260), and Singapore (150).
Trump’s comments come amid a broader campaign by his administration targeting Harvard’s admissions and recruitment practices, particularly amid claims that the campus environment is anti-Semitic and politically biased.
The administration has already implemented stricter screening processes for international student visa applicants, arguing that some may pose risks to national security.
In addition, the U.S. government has criticized elite universities like Harvard for failing to curb anti-Israel protests in response to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
As part of this response, the Trump administration has also temporarily suspended foreign student visa interviews at all U.S. diplomatic posts starting Tuesday, casting uncertainty over the academic plans of many prospective international students.
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