President Donald Trump on Monday doubled down on his demand for a list of names of international students enrolled at Harvard, yet another escalation in his administration’s standoff with the university.
In a social media post on Sunday, Trump claimed that a third of students at the Massachusetts institution are from foreign nations and “some not at all friendly to the United States.”
“We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isn’t exactly forthcoming. We want those names and countries,” he wrote.
Trump repeated the request on Monday, while also threatening to take away more federal funds from the university.
“Harvard is very slow in the presentation of these documents, and probably for good reason!” Trump wrote on his conservative social media platform.
ABC News has reached out to Harvard for comment.
In an earlier post on Monday, the president said he was considering reallocating $3 billion in federal grant money from Harvard University to trade schools. “What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!” Trump wrote.
President Donald Trump walks towards Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, May 23, 2025 in Washington.
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Trump’s demand for the identities of international students studying at Harvard comes after a judge temporarily blocked his administration from rescinding the school’s ability to enroll students from foreign countries.
The judge on Friday said the university showed it would “sustain immediate and irreparable injury” if its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification was revoked. They issued a temporary restraining order on the administration’s action and set a hearing for Tuesday on next steps in the case.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last week wrote to Harvard that it lost the “privilege” to enroll international students as a result of what she called the school’s “refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security pertinent information.”
Notably, the Department of Homeland Security already contains a Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) information database. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the database “tracks and monitors” schools that hold SEVP status as well as the students who come to the U.S. to attend them.
Noem had demanded in April the school hand over information on student visa holder’s “known” illegally activity, violent activity, threats to students or faculty, disciplinary actions taken as a result of being involved in a protest, information on whether the student obstructed the school’s learning environment and the coursework that the student is taking to maintain the visa status.
In last week’s letter to Harvard, Noem stated the university could regain its ability to host international students if it provided records on international students within 72 hours.
Harvard says it has complied with the government’s request.
“Despite the unprecedented nature and scope of the April 16 demand, and the lack of any clear authority for most of the requests, Harvard worked diligently to collect and produce the information it is required to maintain and report under the SEVP program,” the school wrote last week when it sued the administration.
People walk through Harvard Yard on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachussetts, April 15, 2025.
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Harvard more broadly accused the Trump administration of a “campaign of retribution” after the university rejected its earlier demands regarding campus policy and governance, including on DEI and antisemitism.
“This revocation is a blatant violation of the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, and the Administrative Procedure Act. It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students,” the complaint reads.
ABC News’ Luke Barr and Peter Charalambous contributed to this report.
