Trump Says Foreigners Who Graduate from US Colleges Should Get Green Cards

Former US President Donald Trump leaves Manhattan Supreme Court on the 6th day of the hush money trial against him on April 23 2024. Curtis Means/Pool via REUTERS
Former US President Donald Trump leaves Manhattan Supreme Court on the 6th day of the hush money trial against him on April 23 2024. Curtis Means/Pool via REUTERS
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Trump Says Foreigners Who Graduate from US Colleges Should Get Green Cards

Former US President Donald Trump leaves Manhattan Supreme Court on the 6th day of the hush money trial against him on April 23 2024. Curtis Means/Pool via REUTERS
Former US President Donald Trump leaves Manhattan Supreme Court on the 6th day of the hush money trial against him on April 23 2024. Curtis Means/Pool via REUTERS

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in a podcast released on Thursday said that students graduating from US colleges should get a green card to stay in the country, a proposal that runs counter to his hardline immigration stance.

During the All-In podcast hosted by Silicon Valley tech investors, angel investor Jason Calacanis told Trump that the US needs to be able to legally retain more high-skilled workers, a major issue for the tech industry.

"Can you please promise us you will give us more ability to import the best and brightest around the world to America?" Calacanis said.

"I do promise," Trump said. "But I happen to agree, otherwise I wouldn't promise... You graduate from a college, I think you should get automatically as part of your diploma a green card to be able to stay in this country and that includes junior colleges too."

A green card, also known as a permanent resident card, allows individuals the right to live and work permanently in the United States and is a step towards citizenship, according to Reuters.

It was not clear if Trump was referring to all foreigners, including those who came to the United States illegally or overstayed their visas, or only those people on student visas.

Asked for comment, the Trump campaign said in a statement that only after "the most aggressive vetting process in US history" would "the most skilled graduates who can make significant contributions to America" be able to stay.

One immigration advocate was not convinced by Trump's proposal.

"I almost have to laugh because his administration adopted multiple policies aiming to restrict student visas and make it harder for people to stay in the country after graduating," said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council.

During his 2017-2021 presidency, Trump's administration took steps aimed at curbing US companies' use of skilled foreign workers on H-1B visas, a key visa option for international students seeking to remain in the United States.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration tried to force tens of thousands of foreign students to leave the country if their schools held all classes online. Faced with lawsuits and strong opposition from colleges and universities, the administration later rescinded the order.

Trump has vowed a wide-ranging crackdown if reelected in the November election against Democrat Joe Biden, and has lambasted Biden's efforts to curb the record number of migrants crossing into the US illegally.

Two of the All-In hosts, venture capitalists David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya, hosted a swanky fundraiser for Trump in San Francisco earlier this month, raising some $12 million for his campaign.

 

 

 

 

 

 



China Accuses US of Trying to Thwart Improved China-India Ties

FILE PHOTO: Chinese and US flags flutter in Shanghai, China July 30, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song
FILE PHOTO: Chinese and US flags flutter in Shanghai, China July 30, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song
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China Accuses US of Trying to Thwart Improved China-India Ties

FILE PHOTO: Chinese and US flags flutter in Shanghai, China July 30, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song
FILE PHOTO: Chinese and US flags flutter in Shanghai, China July 30, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song

China accused the US on Thursday of distorting its defense policy in an effort to thwart an improvement in China-India ties.

Foreign ministry ‌spokesperson Lin ‌Jian was ‌responding ⁠to a question ‌at a press briefing on whether China might exploit a recent easing of tensions with India over disputed border areas to keep ⁠ties between the United States ‌and India from ‍deepening.

China views ‍its ties with ‍India from a strategic and long-term perspective, Lin said, adding that the border issue was a matter between China and India and "we object to ⁠any country passing judgment about this issue".

The Pentagon said in a report on Tuesday that China "probably seeks to capitalize on decreased tension ... to stabilize bilateral relations and prevent the deepening of US-India ties".


UN Experts Slam US Blockade on Venezuela

US forces have launched dozens of deadly air strikes on boats that Washington alleges were transporting drugs. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP
US forces have launched dozens of deadly air strikes on boats that Washington alleges were transporting drugs. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP
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UN Experts Slam US Blockade on Venezuela

US forces have launched dozens of deadly air strikes on boats that Washington alleges were transporting drugs. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP
US forces have launched dozens of deadly air strikes on boats that Washington alleges were transporting drugs. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP

Four United Nations rights experts on Wednesday condemned the US partial naval blockade of Venezuela, determining it illegal armed aggression and calling on the US Congress to intervene.

The United States has deployed a major military force in the Caribbean and has recently intercepted oil tankers as part of a naval blockade against Venezuelan vessels it considers to be under sanctions, AFP said.

"There is no right to enforce unilateral sanctions through an armed blockade," the UN experts said in a joint statement.

A blockade is a prohibited use of military force against another country under the UN Charter, they added.

"It is such a serious use of force that it is also expressly recognized as illegal armed aggression under the General Assembly's 1974 Definition of Aggression," they said.

"As such, it is an armed attack under article 51 of the Charter -- in principle giving the victim state a right of self-defense."

US President Donald Trump accuses Venezuela of using oil, the South American country's main resource, to finance "narcoterrorism, human trafficking, murders, and kidnappings".

Caracas denies any involvement in drug trafficking. It says Washington is seeking to overthrow its president, Nicolas Maduro, in order to seize Venezuelan oil reserves, the largest in the world.

Since September, US forces have launched dozens of air strikes on boats that Washington alleges, without showing evidence, were transporting drugs. More than 100 people have been killed.

Congress should 'intervene'

"These killings amount to violations of the right to life. They must be investigated and those responsible held accountable," said the experts.

"Meanwhile, the US Congress should intervene to prevent further attacks and lift the blockade," they added.

They called on countries to take measures to stop the blockade and illegal killings, and bring perpetrators justice.

The four who signed the joint statement are: Ben Saul, special rapporteur on protecting human rights while countering terrorism; George Katrougalos, the expert on promoting a democratic and equitable international order; development expert Surya Deva; and Gina Romero, who covers the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

UN experts are independent figures mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to report their findings. They do not, therefore, speak for the United Nations itself.

On Tuesday at the UN in New York, Venezuela, having requested an emergency meeting of the Security Council, accused Washington of "the greatest extortion known in our history".


North Korea's Kim Visits Nuclear Subs as Putin Hails 'Invincible' Bond

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the construction site of an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered submarine capable of launching surface-to-air missiles in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on December 25, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the construction site of an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered submarine capable of launching surface-to-air missiles in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on December 25, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS
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North Korea's Kim Visits Nuclear Subs as Putin Hails 'Invincible' Bond

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the construction site of an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered submarine capable of launching surface-to-air missiles in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on December 25, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the construction site of an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered submarine capable of launching surface-to-air missiles in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on December 25, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a nuclear submarine factory and received a message from Russia's Vladimir Putin hailing the countries' "invincible friendship", Pyongyang's state media said Thursday.

North Korea and Russia have drawn closer since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago, and Pyongyang has sent troops to fight for Russia, AFP said.

In return, Russia is sending North Korea financial aid, military technology and food and energy supplies, analysts say.

The "heroic" efforts of North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk region "clearly proved the invincible friendship" between Moscow and Pyongyang, Putin said in a message to Kim, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Their work demonstrated the nations' "militant fraternity", Putin said in the message received by Pyongyang last week.

The provisions of the "historic treaty" the two leaders signed last year, which includes a mutual defense clause, had been fulfilled "thanks to our joint efforts", Putin wrote.

South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have estimated that the North has sent thousands of soldiers to Russia, primarily to Kursk, along with artillery shells, missiles and long-range rocket systems.

Around 2,000 troops have been killed and thousands more have been wounded, according to South Korean estimates.

North Korea acknowledged this month that its troops in Kursk had been assigned to clear mines and that some had died on deployment.

KCNA reported Putin's letter on the same day that it published details of Kim's undated recent visit to a manufacturing base for nuclear-powered submarines.

There, the North Korean leader vowed to counter the "threat" of South Korea producing its own such vessels.

US President Donald Trump has given the green light for South Korea to build "nuclear-powered attack submarines", though key details of the project remain uncertain.

Photos published by KCNA showed Kim walking alongside a purportedly 8,700-tonne submarine at an indoor assembly site, surrounded by officials and his daughter Kim Ju Ae.

In another image, Kim Jong Un smiles during an official briefing as Kim Ju Ae stands beside him.

Pyongyang would view Seoul developing nuclear subs as "an offensive act severely violating its security and maritime sovereignty", Kim Jong Un said, according to KCNA.

It was therefore "indispensable" to "accelerate the radical development of the modernization and nuclear weaponization of the naval force", he said.

Kim clarified a naval reorganization plan and learned about research into "new underwater secret weapons", KCNA said, without giving details.

Pyongyang's defense ministry said it would consider "countermeasures" against US "nuclear muscle flexing", a separate report said Thursday.

- Help from Russia? -

Only a handful of countries have nuclear-powered submarines, and the United States considers its technology among the most sensitive and tightly guarded military secrets.

In the North's first comments on the US-South Korea deal, a commentary piece by KCNA last month said the program was a "dangerous attempt at confrontation" that could lead to a "nuclear domino phenomenon".

Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP the submarine photos raise "considerable speculation" over whether Russia helped North Korea assemble a nuclear-powered submarine "within such a short time frame".

Kim also reportedly oversaw the test launch on Wednesday of "new-type high-altitude long-range anti-air missiles" over the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.

The projectiles hit mock targets at an altitude of 200 kilometers (124 miles), KCNA said. That height, if correct, would be in space.

One photo showed a missile ascending into the sky in a trail of intense orange flame, while another showed Kim walking in front of what appeared to be a military vehicle equipped with a vertical missile launcher.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said they had been aware of the launch preparations and had braced for the firing in advance.

"South Korean and US intelligence authorities are currently closely analyzing the specifications," it said.