US Colleges on the Brink — Trump’s Money Play Flips the Script, Hong Kong Cashes In

When Trump acts, it’s pure “magic 8-ball” chaos. He’ll contradict himself overnight if there’s profit on the table. Chinese students? Same story. One day, he’s crying “spies!” and digging into their family history; the next, he’s yanking US study visas by the truckload. America’s door slams shut. Then—barely a beat later—he spins around and vows to welcome 600,000 Chinese students, treating them like jackpot slot machines.

Trump slams the panic button—600,000 China visas on offer as US colleges circle the drain. MAGA loyalty? Out the window.

He’s turning so fast you can literally hear the rubber squeal. Trump would rather trigger his own MAGA base than face empty pockets. Why? International student numbers are collapsing. The big-spending Chinese crowd sees red flags everywhere—so they’re backing off fast. With revenue free-falling, US universities are queuing up for bankruptcy. Trump’s spooked, and he’ll swallow his pride for a cash infusion, no matter the cost.
 
But here’s the kicker: Trump’s flip-flops already scared off the Chinese Mainland students, who now flock to Hong Kong universities instead. One side sinks, the other rises—the southward study wave is just getting started. Thanks for the boost, Donald.
  
Yesterday, Fox News got the full show. Trump lobbed a bomb conservatives could barely stomach. He says Chinese students aren’t just important—they’re the spine holding university budgets upright. Cut their numbers in half, and the whole US education system could go belly-up. Most colleges would be done for.
 
Trump’s Panic Button — Cash First, Politics Later
 
The crisis bites, Trump flips. Yesterday’s “kick them out” schtick is gone; now he wants everyone and their cousins to come over. He’s promising 600,000 visas for Chinese students in the next two years. No one rejected; the more, the merrier.

Chinese student kept US colleges alive. Trump’s crackdown bled them dry. Now, layoffs everywhere and even a big U-turn can’t stop the collapse.

Fox’s host—pure MAGA, and none too pleased—hits back: If you give away local student spots to foreigners, how’s that keeping America great? Trump shrugs: “It’s not that I want them, but I view it as a business”, then he added: “ If we were to cut that in half, which perhaps makes some people happy, you would have half the colleges in the United States go out of business”. Ruthless math. That’s the new Trump doctrine.
 
Tension’s thick. MAGA loyalists split—The UK’s Independent reports “civil war” in Trump’s base over the China pivot. Trump digs in regardless; the exodus is triggering a closure wave unlike anything US higher ed has seen.
  
Shockwaves Hit Campus
Visa rules are brutal: background checks that go through your DMs, slow paperwork—so many students missed Fall enrollment had to go elsewhere. August arrivals dropped 20%. US State Department yanked 6,000 visas since January—better to punish everyone than miss a single “suspect.” No wonder future students are spooked. The numbers keep shrinking.
 
US colleges have long leaned on fat international tuition to keep the lights on. Now, that pipeline’s collapsing. Financial Times cites loss estimates topping $900 million; if trends continue, the hit could triple to $3 billion.
  
What do desperate universities do? They cut deep. Layoffs everywhere—John Hopkins slashes 2,000 jobs, USC axes 630 staff. Even so, the monthly closure rate is “two schools down” each month, says State Higher Education Execs. Grim.
  
Hong Kong’s Big Win — Students Flock South
Trump knows the stakes are sky-high. The only lifeline? Throw open the gates for Chinese “money trees.” They’re richer, steadier, and have always paid top dollar. With this cash, universities tottering on the edge get a second lease.
 
But here’s the rub—Trump’s policies are built on quicksand. Today’s welcome could flip tomorrow: Chinese students go from “golden tickets” to “security risks” in a heartbeat. Deportation, jail—you name it. Chinese Mainland parents are wise, hedging bets on Hong Kong, the UK, and Australia instead. After all, these places offer world-class degrees without the gamble.
  
It’s not just America spooking Chinese students. Canada just slashed foreign student visas to dink down surging rent prices. Hong Kong now stands ready for another intake—students who “couldn’t make Canada” now see a ticket south.
  
Hong Kong isn’t waiting around. The fresh “Study in Hong Kong” task force just kicked off, rolling out a big campaign across the Chinese Mainland and beyond. Trump wants to scramble for talent, but his reputation for mood swings makes it a hard sell. Hong Kong’s in pole position.

Lai Ting-yiu

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** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **

The US-Israel alliance has ignited a war against Iran, throwing global markets into absolute chaos. Oil prices shattered the US$100-per-barrel mark today （March 9） and are hurtling toward US$120, while Asian stocks cascade and economic shockwaves hammer the United States. President Donald Trump projects outward calm, but a swift victory has proven completely elusive.

Evangelical leaders gather at the White House to bless Trump’s "holy war" against Iran—an unsettling spectacle of spiritual rallying.

Cornered by Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump let slip today that he is already discussing an end to military operations with Israel, conceding that he will "make a decision at the right time, but everything’s going to be taken into account."

The reality is, Trump is actively hunting for an escape hatch. In a telling move, Trump recently summoned evangelical pastors to the White House to lay hands on his shoulders and pray for divine guidance. The goal is clear: manufacture religious fervour to shore up his sinking base and pray his way out of a worsening crisis.

Staging this unconventional "spiritual rally" right now serves a calculated political agenda. Make no mistake: the White House is weaponising the evangelical community’s mobilising power to rally believers behind Trump's "holy war." It is a desperate bid to reverse his collapsing approval ratings.

Weaponising Faith for Survival

Evangelicals form the most deeply conservative Christian bloc in America, anchored in the Southern and Midwestern "Bible Belt." They are the Republican Party's ultimate voting machine and Trump's bedrock of support. During the 2024 presidential election, the vast majority of registered white Christian voters threw their weight behind Trump, driven by a deep-seated hostility toward Kamala Harris.

Public blowback against the Iran campaign is intensifying by the day. Latest polls reveal only 27% of American respondents support the offensive, while a staggering 43% oppose it, and 56% conclude Trump is simply "too eager to use military force to solve problems."

Starved of mainstream support, the president is falling back on a familiar playbook. By summoning pastors to bless his war effort and firing up his propaganda machine, he aims to stoke religious fanaticism among conservative Christians. It is a tactical play to re-energise his die-hard loyalists and project an illusion of absolute strength.

Desperate to reverse his collapsing poll numbers, Trump stokes religious fervour to pray his way out of a worsening crisis.

A Dangerous New Crusade

Another core objective behind this carefully choreographed spectacle is to sanctify the bloodshed in Iran. The optics were meticulously staged: Trump seated at the iconic Resolute Desk, surrounded by pastors murmuring prayers with their hands resting on his shoulders. The entire scene dripped with heavy religious ritual. They called upon God to "continue to give our President the strength that he needs to lead our great nation", to ultimate victory. Ultimately, the ceremony played out like a divine blessing bestowed upon a crusading king, draping a brutal military offensive in the sacred robes of holy war.

Experts warn that Trump is deliberately framing the Iran offensive as a righteous crusade to vanquish evil. The narrative draws a direct, unsettling parallel to the Crusades of a millennium ago, when Christian armies marched out to crush the Islamic empire and reclaim the holy city. History shows those ancient Crusaders left behind mass slaughter and rivers of blood in their wake. If Trump is truly modelling today's conflict on that ancient eastward conquest, the implications for global stability are profoundly terrifying.

This aggressive push to "sacralise" himself and the MAGA movement is hardly a new tactic. Trump has long weaponised his alliance with evangelicals, cloaking his post-election agenda in claims of divine mandate.

To cement this bond, Trump took the unprecedented step of establishing a White House Faith Office. He installed Paula White—chair of his Evangelical Advisory Board and the woman in red standing beside him during the recent prayer event—to lead it. Known for her emotionally explosive style, White famously delivered a feverish prayer during the 2020 election. She screamed "strike, strike, strike" while summoning angels to defeat evil, creating a spectacle that bordered on cult-like worship.

Running Out of Miracles

Confronted by a rapidly spiralling crisis, Trump is instinctively reaching back into his old bag of tricks. He is summoning "sacred energy" to project dominance and hoisting the banner of "fighting evil" to salvage his political survival.

Yet, such action simply overlooks the hard truth of the battlefield. The administration is sinking deeper into an unwinnable quagmire every single day. The trap has already snapped shut, and this time, even divine intervention may not be enough to bail him out.