(Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP photo)
President Donald Trump is once again defending his plan to have 600,000 Chinese students attend American universities, saying it is the “right thing to do” and that it would be “insulting” to think he is doing it improve trade negotiations with Xi Jinping, the head of China’s communist government.
The president tripled down on the move during an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller’s Reagan Reese that was published on Sunday.
“I think what we’re doing is the right thing to do,” the president said. “It’s good to get along with countries, not bad, especially, you know, nuclear-powered countries. I think it’s good to get along with countries. The [Ukraine-Russia war] would have never started if I were president, all those kids would have been alive right now.”
A moment earlier, Trump said “I don’t want anything in return” for allowing the 600,00 students to come to the U.S. The president told TDC
Reese, at another point in the interview, asked the president “if this is a negotiation tactic, or is this something you think benefits the country?” President Trump did not seem thrilled with the question.
“I think that it’s very insulting to a country. I have a very good relationship with President Xi,” he responded. “I think it’s very insulting to a country when you say you’re not going to take your students, and they have probably 300,000 — 600 is over two years — but they have, let’s say 300-350,000 students. It’s also good for our system, when you take them out and you know who’s going to be affected, the lesser colleges, the top college colleges aren’t going to be, it’s the lesser colleges that are.”
President Trump first shared his plan to bring in hundreds of thousands of Chinese students on Aug. 25. He then doubled down on the move during a cabinet meeting a day later, despite vocal criticism from some pro-MAGA citizens and commentators.
The president, during his TDC interview, added he was “honored” to have Chinese students come study in the States.