During his recent trip to China, President Trump was asked in an interview about the roughly 500,000 to 600,000 Chinese students currently enrolled at American universities. This was his response. “As far as the students, it’s 500k students, they come, they’re good students. I could tell them I don’t want any students, it’s a very insulting thing to say to a country…but if you don’t have those students, good students by the way…but if you want to see a university system die, take half a million students out of it… I frankly think that it’s good that people come from other countries, and they learn our culture and many of them want to stay here. I think it’s good. Not everybody agrees with me, and it doesn’t sound like a very conservative position, and I'm a conservative guy, but I’m really a common sense guy, I think more than a conservative guy, I think MAGA is common sense…So they have 500k students and our university system does great.”
His answer reflected an admirable strategy: cultural exchange can showcase American greatness, build goodwill, and potentially cultivate future allies who return home with a favorable impression of the United States. As a practitioner of foreign policy, I can understand this instinct. But as a Gen Z student and then professor who has lived this reality on today’s college campuses, I must respectfully point out that Trump’s advisors have misinformed him. What is happening is not cultural exchange. It is an invasion of influence that harms American students, compromises academic standards, distorts the labor market, and creates genuine national security risks. This is not an indictment of individual Chinese students or culture, as many of these factors are out of their control and directed by their totalitarian government. These are the facts of the situation that must be acknowledged in order to accurately assess the policy.
First, let’s look at the idea of cultural exchange and the hope to build lasting impressions on Chinese students who may one day return to China as influential leaders in government or business with a positive image of the US in mind. In theory, the idea is to produce assets for the US that could benefit us later. In practice, this hope is unrealistic and impractical. Chinese students arrive already shaped by years of Chinese Communist Party indoctrination and remain under surveillance by Ministry of Education outposts and “student associations” that function as de facto extensions of the Chinese government on U.S. soil. The result, especially with students coming in such large numbers, is not assimilation or relationship-building but parallel societies. At public universities like those in the University of California system—schools funded by California taxpayers—middle-class American students report spending four years largely excluded from social life altogether when there is a large presence of Chinese students on campus. This even hinders the remaining American students from interacting with each other, as social life in general is suppressed. These are the same middle-class students who are already being left behind with too few spots for American students that they shouldn’t have to compete for in the first place, as their parents fund the universities with their taxpayer dollars. Chinese students often refuse to speak English outside class, cluster exclusively with one another, and show little interest in forming friendships with their American classmates. The very reason many Americans attend college—to develop social skills and build networks is undermined. And the reason Chinese students are there, to experience American culture and create lasting impressions, is not happening at all.
In fact, our university systems are not doing great. They are producing fewer critical thinkers ready for tomorrow’s economy, and they are becoming a drain on society rather than an engine for societal advancement. Academic integrity is already suffering. On top of that, Chinese students also often do not show the same regard for academic integrity that American students are taught, and often Chinese students frequently share answers, collaborate on assignments meant to be individual, and engage in other forms of cheating. This is not always the fault of individual students; it is often directed and encouraged by CCP-led student orgs that are more concerned with winning at all costs than respecting American tradition and culture. But, in classes with curved grading, this places rule-following American students at a structural disadvantage.
After graduation, Chinese students receive a one-year Optional Practical Training (OPT) visa extension that allows them to work in the United States. In an economy already strained by AI disruption and sluggish wage growth, they become direct competitors to young Americans trying to launch careers. Employers often prefer OPT candidates because they accept lower wages, work longer hours without demanding work-life balance, and are more dependent on their sponsor—since their legal presence in the country hinges on that job. This moment in time is not right to introduce half a million competitors for Gen Z and younger American students struggling to enter the workforce. This is not free-market competition; it is a tilted playing field subsidized by American immigration policy.
Most concerning of all is the doctrine of “unrestricted warfare” embraced by the CCP. Students are expected to comply with government requests for information, even when those requests cross into espionage or the theft of sensitive scientific research and dual-use technologies. The risks are not theoretical. Multiple cases have already surfaced involving Chinese students and researchers in critical fields.
The principle of hosting foreign students to advance diplomacy is sound in theory. With China, however, the risks vastly outweigh the rewards. We are educating and subsidizing our most formidable strategic competitor while disadvantaging our own young people.
A sharp reduction in student visas and OPT approvals for Chinese nationals is a common-sense policy. It aligns directly with the America First agenda: protecting taxpayer-funded institutions, restoring opportunity for American students and workers, and safeguarding national security. It is time to put American students first.