Donald Trump wants to know all of the names and countries of origin of all nearly 7,000 foreign-born students attending Harvard University.

The president said it was unacceptable that 31 percent of the students who attend the famous Ivy League school are 'from foreign lands.'

Harvard filed on Friday a lawsuit against the Trump administration for revoking its right to host foreign students.

The school said in a court filing Trump's action will have an 'immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders.'

'With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard's student body, international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission,' Harvard wrote.

'Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.'

But the revelation of the sheer number of foreign students and those on student visas shocked Trump and led him to ratchet up his attacks on the university.

 

About a third of Harvard's students – nearly 7,000 – are from foreign countries. Pictured: Students walk on Harvard's campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 15, 2025
About a third of Harvard's students – nearly 7,000 – are from foreign countries. Pictured: Students walk on Harvard's campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 15, 2025
 

'Why isn't Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their student's education, nor do they ever intend to. Nobody told us that!' Trump wrote to Truth Social overnight from Saturday to Sunday.

'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,' he continued. 'We want those names and countries.'

Trump says that Harvard should use its $52 million rather than asking for federal grants.

The Department of Homeland Security announced on Thursday its revocation of Harvard's ability to host and enroll students from other countries.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem published a letter she sent to the ivy league university last week instructing the thousands of current students to either transfer to other schools or leave the country.

The punishment, Noem said, comes in response to the Trump administration's claims that Harvard fostered antisemitism and coordinated with the Chinese Communist Party to allow students from there to live in the country on a visa from the university.

 

Trump says he wants the list from Harvard just two days after the university filed a lawsuit against the administration for revoking its ability to host and enroll foreign students

Trump says he wants the list from Harvard just two days after the university filed a lawsuit against the administration for revoking its ability to host and enroll foreign students

 

She wrote in a post to X on the action: 'It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments.'

Foreign students account for a quarter of the student body of the school, with around 6,800 at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Harvard hit back with a statement calling the move unlawful and that they would be quickly working to provide guidance to their students.

'This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard's academic and research mission,' she said.