President Donald Trump said during an Aug. 26 cabinet meeting that the United States is “honored” to host Chinese students and would welcome as many as 600,000 of them, arguing it is “insulting” to suggest they should be barred and warning that American universities would “go to hell” without their tuition revenue. A White House official later clarified that the figure represents about two years of student-visa issuances and is not a planned expansion of current policy. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick reinforced the president’s stance in a Fox News interview, contending that removing Chinese enrolment would push top-tier students upward and force the country’s lowest-ranked 15 % of colleges out of business. The remarks drew sharp criticism from conservative commentators, who cited espionage concerns, and from some lawmakers who said the proposal conflicted with the administration’s “America First” rhetoric. Beijing seized on the president’s comments. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Aug. 27 urged Washington to make good on the invitation by ending what it called the “groundless harassment, interrogation and deportation” of Chinese students and by safeguarding their lawful rights in the United States. Hours after China’s appeal, the US Department of Homeland Security released a draft regulation that would cap stays for foreign students, exchange visitors and foreign media personnel at four years, reviving a rule first floated in 2020. The department said fixed terms are needed to police visa overstays and fraud; higher-education groups warned the change could deter enrolment. Government data show 1.6 million students held F-1 visas last year. The juxtaposition of Trump’s overture to Chinese students and DHS’s move to tighten visa oversight highlights the administration’s conflicted approach to international education. The proposed rule is open to public comment for 60 days, while Beijing and domestic critics watch to see whether the promised welcome for Chinese students materialises.