At a White House press availability Monday, Trump emphasized that the U.S.-China relationship was critical and claimed allowing 600,000 Chinese students into the country was “very important.” Currently, about 277,000 Chinese students are enrolled in American universities, making up nearly a quarter of all international students.

“President Xi would like me to come to China. It’s a very important relationship,” Trump said. “We’re going to allow their students to come in. It’s very important, 600,000 students. It’s a much better relationship economically than it was before.”

The announcement marks a clear break from Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s earlier vow to clamp down on visas for Chinese nationals, particularly those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Rubio had pledged to “aggressively revoke visas” for CCP-linked students, citing espionage and security risks.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick defended the policy on Fox News, telling Laura Ingraham that without these students, lower-tier American colleges could go bankrupt. “If you didn’t have those 600,000 students, the bottom 15 percent of universities would go out of business,” Lutnick said, calling Trump’s move a “rational economic view.”

Ingraham wasn’t convinced, blasting the decision as a gift to elite schools like Harvard and Berkeley, which she described as “factories of anti-American propaganda.” She warned the influx of Chinese nationals would come at the expense of American kids who deserve those university slots.

Critics argue the risks go far beyond college enrollment. They point to CCP-linked espionage operations and even hostile biological threats. A CCP-controlled biolab was uncovered in California, while Chinese doctoral students have been indicted for smuggling dangerous pathogens. Others cite the iron grip of Chinese law, which requires citizens to “support, assist, and cooperate with national intelligence efforts.” That means students allowed to study here are often pre-cleared by Beijing and vulnerable to CCP coercion.

The presence of Chinese Ph.D. students in American labs raises additional alarms, with fears that future breakthroughs in science and technology could be funneled back to Beijing rather than strengthening U.S. innovation. “These are the labs where American students should be trained,” one critic noted, “yet they’re filled with Chinese nationals who may be here under orders from the Communist Party.”

For Trump, the policy is rooted in hard economics. He’s repeatedly said that America benefits financially when Chinese families pour billions into U.S. universities, paying full tuition while often boosting surrounding local economies. The White House sees this as a way to shore up struggling schools while leveraging Beijing in trade talks.

But the tradeoff is stark: American students face displacement from elite institutions, while U.S. security could be compromised by the influx of foreign nationals tied to an adversarial regime. Even supporters admit the move is controversial. Lutnick tried to deflect by highlighting Trump’s push to overhaul the H1B and green card systems to favor “the best people,” but critics weren’t buying it.

The timeline for the 600,000-student target remains unclear, leaving universities and watchdog groups on edge. What is clear is that the announcement has set off a political firestorm, pitting Trump’s “rational economic view” against the growing national security concerns of conservatives who argue this policy could hand China another foothold in America’s institutions.

With Democrats reeling and Republicans divided, the battle over Trump’s student visa surge is just beginning—and it could reshape not only higher education but the future of U.S.-China relations.