Trump Brushes Off 'Fake' Polls on Economic Woes, Defends Hosting 600K Chinese Students to Save U.S. Colleges from Collapse

Washington, D.C. – November 10, 2025  In a fiery exchange on Fox News that has reignited debates over America's economic priorities and national security, President Donald Trump dismissed mounting concerns about inflation and job insecurity as the product of "fake" polls, while staunchly defending his administration's decision to welcome up to 600,000 Chinese students onto U.S. college campuses. The outspoken commander-in-chief revealed what he called the "real reason" behind the policy: without these international tuition-payers, swaths of American higher education would crumble, sending the nation's universities "to hell very quickly."

The comments, aired Monday evening during an appearance on The Ingraham Angle, came amid a broader discussion on U.S.-China trade talks and the president's "America First" agenda. Host Laura Ingraham pressed Trump on the optics of hosting hundreds of thousands of students from a geopolitical rival she described as notorious for intellectual property theft and espionage. "They're not the French," Ingraham quipped, highlighting fears that Chinese enrollees pose undue risks to American innovation and security.

Trump, undeterred, fired back with characteristic bravado. "You think the French are better? Really?" he retorted, drawing a laugh from the audience while pivoting to the economic stakes. He argued that the influx of Chinese students—estimated at around 277,000 during the 2023-24 academic year, with plans to expand toward 600,000—is a lifeline for cash-strapped institutions. "Our college system would go to hell very quickly" without them, Trump warned, echoing sentiments from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who appeared on the same program to elaborate.

Lutnick, a key architect of Trump's tariff strategy, framed the policy as pragmatic capitalism rather than capitulation. "What would happen if you didn't have those 600,000 students? You'd empty them from the top," he explained. Elite universities like Harvard and Stanford would absorb the overflow, leaving the "bottom 15 percent" of schools—often smaller public and regional colleges—facing shuttering. With state funding for higher education dwindling amid budget crunches, international students, who pay full out-of-state tuition rates without financial aid, inject billions into the system. A 2023 analysis by NAFSA, the Association of International Educators, pegged the total economic impact of foreign students at $43.8 billion annually, supporting nearly 378,000 jobs from campus dining halls to off-campus housing.

Trump's defense extended to broader economic anxieties roiling the nation. Recent polls have shown growing voter unease over persistent inflation—hovering around 3.2 percent—and stagnant wages in manufacturing sectors hit hard by global supply chain disruptions. But the president waved them away as media fabrications. "Fake polls, all fake," he declared, insisting his administration's tariff revenues from China—now exceeding $100 billion yearly—have supercharged growth. "We're taking a lot of money in from China because of the tariffs. It's a much better relationship economically than it was before with Biden," Trump added, touting improved bilateral ties even as he floated 200 percent duties on rare earth imports if Beijing doesn't play ball.

The remarks have sparked a firestorm within Trump's MAGA base, exposing fissures in the coalition that propelled his 2024 reelection. Hardline conservatives like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and influencer Laura Loomer decried the student visa expansion as a betrayal of campaign promises to clamp down on Chinese influence. "Should never allow that," Loomer posted on X, while Greene warned it hands America's "crown jewels" of technology straight to adversaries. Online forums, from Reddit's r/Economics to conservative chat groups, buzzed with accusations of "doublethink," with critics arguing the spots displace American applicants amid a youth unemployment rate topping 12 percent.

Yet supporters, including Lutnick, hail it as classic Trumpian deal-making: leveraging student inflows to fund education while extracting concessions in trade negotiations. Beijing, for its part, has quietly welcomed the thaw, with state media praising the "honor" of sending top talent stateside—a nod to Trump's direct overture to President Xi Jinping. During a recent Cabinet meeting, the president reiterated: "I told this to President Xi that we're honored to have their students here," emphasizing rigorous vetting processes to weed out security threats.

As U.S.-China tensions simmer—from semiconductor restrictions to fentanyl crackdowns—this episode underscores the tightrope Trump walks between economic nationalism and fiscal reality. With midterm primaries looming, the "fake polls" dismissal may rally his core faithful, but it risks alienating those who see the Chinese student surge as yet another elite giveaway. For now, America's ivory towers stand a little taller, buoyed by foreign checks—but at what long-term cost to the heartland's dreams? 17GEN4.com