Donald Trump’s late night proclamation blocking Harvard’s new international students has sparked fear and anger among existing students left in limbo amid the escalating showdown between the US president and their university.Alfred Williamson, a Welsh-Danish physics and government student in his second year at Harvard, said he was “clinging onto the hope that Harvard will win this fight and that I will get to return next semester.”Harvard had won a reprieve from a judge who paused an earlier bid by Trump to revoke the university’s ability to sponsor the school’s large international student population — 27 percent of the total.”Then the Trump administration does whatever it can to crush those dreams,” Williamson, 20, told AFP of Trump’s proclamation Wednesday alleging that “Harvard’s conduct has rendered it an unsuitable destination for foreign students and researchers” and also threatened existing international students with visa cancellations.”This represents another authoritarian instance of executive overreach, which punishes international students for attending a university that refuses to bow down to the administration,” said Williamson who is vacationing outside the United States.He said “Trump is targeting Harvard because it has the integrity to stand up to his unlawful and un-American demands.”Harvard has been at the forefront of Trump’s campaign against top universities after it defied his calls to submit to oversight of its curriculum, staffing, student recruitment and “viewpoint diversity.” The government already cut around $3.2 billion of federal grants and contracts benefiting Harvard and pledged to exclude the Cambridge, Massachusetts, institution from any future federal funding while threatening its tax-exempt status.- ‘Campaign of retaliation’ -On Thursday, Harvard added the latest measure to legal action against the Trump administration, arguing in a court filing that “this is not the Administration’s first attempt to sever Harvard from its international students.” It called it part of a “campaign of retaliation.”A graduate student at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government from India who declined to be named said: “I just read this latest news. We have not received anything from Harvard yet, but this isn’t surprising — albeit concerning.” “I knew it was going to be a long summer.” One international student who declined to be named for fear of retribution raised the plight of international students who had moved their lives to Harvard, leaving for the summer break, and now faced uncertainty following Trump’s order.”What about students who went home for the summer? There’s a risk they won’t be able to come back,” said the student who is currently seeking to renew their own visa.Legal experts said Harvard would need to explore a range of options to protect its foreign students alongside the legal action.”(They) need to act quickly on an administrative level to explore options for its international student population which could possibly include program deferrals, transitions to online instruction, or other alternatives to ensure academic continuity,” said attorney Khensani Mathebula, who works with the Laura Devine Immigration firm.”Staying informed and proactive is essential in protecting (students’) academic and immigration status.”A US Harvard student of government going into her fourth year who is friends with many international students, Olivia Data, said “this news is heartbreaking and scary.” “Our friends and classmates are being used as collateral in a dictator’s grab for power, and none of us know where it will end or whether our university can protect its students in our current political system,” she said.

Harvard on Thursday added Donald Trump’s proclamation barring new foreign students at the university from entering the United States to existing legal action against the administration, which it accuses of “retaliation” action.A proclamation issued by the White House late Wednesday declared that the entrance of international students to begin a course at Harvard would be “suspended and limited” for six months and that existing foreign enrollees risked having their visas terminated.”Harvard’s conduct has rendered it an unsuitable destination for foreign students and researchers,” the order said.In an amended complaint filed in federal court, Harvard said “this is not the Administration’s first attempt to sever Harvard from its international students.””(It) is part of a concerted and escalating campaign of retaliation by the government in clear retribution for Harvard’s 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.”Wednesday’s announcement came after the Trump administration’s earlier efforts to terminate Harvard’s right to enroll and host foreign students were stalled by a judge.- ‘Government vendetta’ -Harvard quickly filed a lawsuit against that effort on May 23, expanding the action Thursday to include the latest legal push.The government already cut around $3.2 billion of federal grants and contracts benefiting Harvard and pledged to exclude the Cambridge, Massachusetts, institution from any future federal funding.Harvard has been at the forefront of Trump’s campaign against top universities after it defied his calls to submit to oversight of its curriculum, staffing, student recruitment and “viewpoint diversity.” Trump has also singled out international students at Harvard, who accounted for 27 percent of total enrollment in the 2024-2025 academic year and are a major source of income.In its filing, Harvard acknowledged that Trump had the authority to bar an entire class of aliens if it was deemed to be in the public interest, but stressed that was not the case in this action.”The President’s actions thus are not undertaken to protect the ‘interests of the United States’ but instead to pursue a government vendetta against Harvard,” it said.Since returning to office Trump has targeted elite US universities which he and his allies accuse of being hotbeds of anti-Semitism, liberal bias and “woke” ideology.Trump’s education secretary also threatened on Wednesday to strip Columbia University of its accreditation.The Republican has targeted the New York Ivy League institution for allegedly ignoring harassment of Jewish students, throwing all of its federal funding into doubt.Unlike Harvard, several top institutions — including Columbia — have already bowed to far-reaching demands from the Trump administration

It may have been one of the most predictable break-ups in history. But for a few brief months US President Donald Trump and tech tycoon Elon Musk were inseparable.Here are some key moments before the marriage of two huge egos imploded over Musk’s criticisms of Trump’s “big, beautiful” budget mega-bill.- Jumping on stage – The world’s richest man literally jumped for joy when he first stumped for Republican candidate Trump on the campaign trail on October, 5 2024. The South African-born Musk leapt in the air like one of his Space X rockets as he joined Trump on stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump escaped an assassination attempt three months earlier.”As you can see, I’m not just MAGA, I’m dark MAGA,” Trump told the crowd, tipping his all-black “Make America Great Again” hat.He would go on to become the campaign’s biggest donor, spending nearly $300 million.- ‘Lil’ X’ -Trump sprung a surprise on reporters when he brought Musk into the Oval Office for his first appearance before the media since his arrival in Washington.Even more surprising was that Musk brought his young son, named X Æ A-Xii but more widely known as “Lil’ X” — later putting him on his shoulders.”This is X and he’s a great guy,” said Trump, as the boy picked his nose while his father boasted about his cost-cutting exploits with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).- Tensions? What tensions? -There were already rumors of tensions between the hard-charging Musk and other members of Trump’s administration when the tycoon attended his first cabinet meeting in February.But Trump moved to squish any suggestions of trouble in paradise. “Anybody unhappy with Elon? If they are, we’ll throw ’em out of here,” said Trump, jumping in after AFP asked Musk whether the reports of strains were true.The rest of the cabinet then erupted into a round of applause for Musk — just as they would do three months later when it emerged he was stepping back from the role.At another meeting, Musk proudly wore a “Trump was right about everything” baseball hat.- Sleepovers -The president and the tech magnate seemed to spend most of their time together in the first feverish weeks of Trump’s return to power. They traveled together on Air Force One and his Marine One helicopter. Musk slept over at the White House, where he boasted of once eating a whole tub of ice cream.In a display of macho bonding, they also attended mixed martial arts fights together.Musk meanwhile proclaimed his loyalty on his social media platform, X. He declared himself the “First Buddy” and said: “I love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man.”- Tesla showroom -Musk’s Tesla car company took a major hit from his bromance with Trump. Trump, knowing that a threat to Musk’s businesses could drive him out of his role, decided to help out.The president turned the White House South Portico into a pop-up Tesla showroom for Musk, with a Cybertruck and a Model S parked outside. Trump even said he had purchased one. Two of Trump’s press aides were seen posing in the gleaming red car as recently as last week. After the spectacular break up it was still sitting in the White House parking lot on Thursday.