In latest battle between Trump and Harvard, court blocks DHS move to bar university from enrolling foreign students- National & International News - FRI 23May2025 -

Court blocks DHS move to bar Harvard from enrolling foreign students.

Trump threatens 50% tariffs on Europe, 25% on Apple.

Court blocks DHS move to bar Harvard from enrolling foreign students

Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it would revoke Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, in what DHS secretary Kristi Noem called “a warning to all universities”.

Harvard quickly sued the federal government, calling the administration’s ban on foreign students at the university “unlawful”. Today, US District Court Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard, temporarily blocking DHS’s action.

Harvard’s attorneys called DHS’s move “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”.

Trump admin vs. academic freedom

This was the Trump administration’s latest move in a power struggle against the university, one of the world’s premiere academic institutions. Last month, Harvard rejected demands by the administration for greater government oversight over hiring, student recruitment, curriculum matters, research and other academic matters. While other major universities, such as Columbia, have bowed to Trump’s demands, Harvard’s president said that accepting them would amount to a violation of the principles of academic freedom.

In retaliation, the federal government revoked $2 billion dollars in research funding to the university. Harvard has an endowment of over $50 billion (more than the GDPs of many small countries, such as Bahrain) which have come in donations to the university from wealthy alumni and other major institutional donors. However, much of that money is earmarked for purposes other than research, such as student tuition and administrative costs. Harvard cannot easily use that money to make up for losses of research grants.

Students in a bind

Given these restrictions, blocking international students is a serious blow to Harvard’s operational budget. Unlike most American students, international students generally pay full price tuition. They are therefore a significant resource for any major university.

Until today’s court order, international students already enrolled at the university were also in a difficult position. With DHS’s ban in effect, these students would either have to find other universities in the US to accept them or leave the country. As the case moves through the courts, these students will continue to face uncertainty as to their futures, both at Harvard and in the US.

Trump threatens 50% tariffs on Europe, 25% on Apple

Today, President Trump announced he was planning a 50% tariff on all goods from the European Union after deciding that trade talks were “going nowhere”. He said that he was “not looking for a deal” with the EU and that the tariffs would go into effect on June 1.

Trump also said he would love a 25% tariff on tech giant Apple if they do not start producing the iPhone in the US. He also implied that Samsung and other tech companies could see similar measures. Experts say that if they were fully produced in the United States, iPhones would triple in price, up to $3,500. This would of course be far more than the price increase resulting from a 25% tariff.

These announcements prompted sell-offs on Wall Street. The slide erased much of the gains that had been made since Trump dropped his tariff on China from 145% to 30%. During the height of the China trade war attentions, shares were at a 2-year low.