Trump says he wants foreign students who don't 'cause trouble,' slams Harvard for being 'a big shot'

President Donald Trump during a quality league successful the Oval Office connected Friday said helium is successful favour of allowing planetary students connected U.S. assemblage campuses, clarifying helium is against welcoming students who are "causing trouble."

Singling retired Harvard University, which has travel nether occurrence successful some nationalist sentiment and the courts, Trump noted astir 30% of its students are foreign.

"Our state has fixed $5 cardinal positive to Harvard implicit a abbreviated play of time," helium said. "Nobody knew that. We recovered that out. I wouldn't accidental that was a [Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)] thing, but we recovered that retired implicit a play of time, that was benignant of a Trump thing."

Demonstrators stitchery connected Cambridge Common to protestation Harvard's stance connected the warfare successful Gaza and amusement enactment for the Palestinian people, extracurricular Harvard University successful Cambridge, Massachusetts, April 25, 2025.  (JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)

During ongoing litigation, which the president attributed to the assemblage being "very anti-semitic," helium said the medication recovered retired that the authorities gave them much than $5 cardinal successful funding.

"We're having it retired with them, and let's spot what happens," Trump said. "I deliberation we person a precise good, well, it's a precise bittersweet case. It's a lawsuit we win. We can't suffer that lawsuit due to the fact that we person the close to marque grants. We're not going to marque immoderate grants similar that."

He went connected to accidental Harvard has not "been acting precise nicely," and said different institutions similar Columbia University successful New York City "wants to get to the bottommost of the problem." 

Israeli and American flags planted arsenic portion of a memorial show successful grant of Oct. 7 victims were vandalized connected the Harvard University campus. (Young America's Foundation)

"They've acted precise well, and determination are different institutions, too, that are acting, but Harvard's trying to beryllium a large shot," Trump said. "And each that happens is each 3 days, we find different $100 cardinal that was given."

Two days ago, the president said his medication had recovered an further $200 cardinal successful grants fixed to Harvard.

"The money's fixed to them similar gravy," helium said.

Cambridge, MA - May 10: Harvard module and unit clasp signs from wrong Harvard Yard during a property league by module supporters of the Harvard Out of Palestine conjugation extracurricular Harvard Yard.  (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Offering an alternative, Trump said helium would similar to spot the wealth spell toward creating the world's champion commercialized schoolhouse system.

"I'd similar to spot the wealth spell to commercialized schools wherever radical larn however to hole motors and engines, wherever radical larn however to physique rocket ships," helium said. "Because, you know, idiosyncratic has to physique those rocket ships."

"Yep," Elon Musk, who departed DOGE connected Friday, chimed successful from the broadside of Trump's desk.

"I'd similar to spot commercialized schools acceptable up, due to the fact that you could instrumentality $5 cardinal positive hundreds of billions more, which is what's spent, and you could person the top commercialized schoolhouse strategy anyplace successful the world, and that's what we request to physique his rockets and robots and things that he's doing, and to physique tons of different things."

He added helium went to schoolhouse with peers who could "fix the motor of a car amended than anybody I've ever seen" and "take it isolated blindfolded."

"They had an quality astatine that, and they did precise well," Trump said. "They made a batch of money. You know, it's a precise skilled job. … I'd similar to spot a batch of wealth going into commercialized schools. I've ever felt that, and we astir apt recovered our cookware of gold, and that's what's been wasted astatine places similar Harvard."