Trump Defends Stand On Controversial Student Visa Plan After MAGA Backlash

President Donald Trump is defending his plan to bring hundreds of thousands of Chinese students into the country after facing backlash from prominent MAGA voices.

Appearing Monday’s episode of Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” Trump argued to host Laura Ingraham that he knows “what MAGA wants better than anybody else.”

Trump’s declaration comes months after he announced that he would allow 600,000 Chinese students into the United States to study, as his trade war with China and other countries continues to rumble on.

The conversation kicked off after Ingraham told Trump that “a lot of MAGA folks are not thrilled” about his plans for the international students.

“Why, sir, is that a pro-MAGA position when so many American kids want to go to school and there are places not for them, and these universities are getting rich off Chinese money?” the TV host asked.

“We do have a lot of people coming in from China, and we always have,” Trump replied. “We also have a massive system of colleges and universities, and if we were to cut that in half, which perhaps makes some people happy, you would have half the colleges in the United States go out of business.”

Ingraham responded, “So what?” And Trump doubled down, adding, “Well, I think it’s a big deal.”

Not backing down, Ingraham asked the president, “So we’re dependent on China to keep our university system going?”

Trump shot back, “No, not China, but I actually think it’s good to have outside countries.” He then noted that he wants to be able to “get along with the world.”

Ingraham went on to claim that the Chinese students are “not the French,” while making the accusation that the Chinese “spy on us, they steal our intellectual property.”

“You think the French are better?” Trump asked, to which she replied, “Yeah.”

He then launched into an explanation about why he’s “not so sure” he could agree with Ingraham.

“We’ve had a lot of problems with the French where we get taxed very unfairly on our technology,” Trump said. “You know, they put 25% taxes on American products. Look, assuming everyone treats us badly because that’s the way I am, but we’re taking trillions of dollars from students.”

He added, “You know, the students pay more than double when they come in from most foreign countries. I want to see our school system thrive.”

Trump claimed it’s not that he wants international students in the United States, but rather to “view it as a business.”

After wrapping up his comments on the university and college system, Trump shifted gears to boast about what he claims to be the origin of MAGA.

“And don’t forget MAGA was my idea,” he said. “MAGA was nobody else’s idea. I know what MAGA wants better than anybody else, and MAGA wants to see our country thrive.”

Despite Trump’s prior restrictions on Chinese students and sky-high tariffs on the East Asian country, in response to what he called China’s unfair trade practices, the president announced his plans to offer 600,000 visas to Chinese students in August.

The decision, which sparked criticism from his MAGA supporters, also came amid his administration’s controversial sweeping mass deportations of immigrants.

Watch Trump’s appearance on “The Ingraham Angle” below.