US updates: New student visa appointments to be halted

The Trump administration has ordered federal agencies to cancel all remaining contracts with Harvard and revoked foreign students' enrollment last week. DW's Benjamin Alvarez Gruber spoke with Victor Flores, a protest organizer who expressed solidarity with international students.

King Charles, monarch of the Commonwealth, uses his visit to Canada to affirm the country will remain strong and free. As a constitutional monarchy, Canada shares the same monarch with other Commonwealth realms.

Students at Harvard University rallied on Tuesday after Donald Trump's administration said it is seeking to cancel all remaining financial contracts with the university. 

Doubling down its effort to curtail the university's autonomy, the Trump administration has asked the federal agencies to cut contracts worth $100 million (€88 million) at Harvard.

Hundreds of students gathered to protest against Trump administration's actions against the university which has refused to give up control of curriculum, admissions and research.

"Trump = traitor" read one student placard. The crowd chanted "who belongs in class today, let them stay" in reference to Harvard's international students whose status Trump has upended by revoking the university's accreditation to the country's Student and Exchange Visitor program.

The termination of the remaining contracts would mark the end of business ties between the government and a university that is the country's oldest and a research powerhouse.

The US government has already canceled more than $2.6 billion in federal research grants for the Ivy League university.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that neighbors Canada can join his proposed missile defense shield Golden Dome System if Canada becomes part of the United States.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex Canada and make it the US' "51st state."

The US president unveiled his plans for the Golden Dome system last week, saying it would cost around $175 billion (€153.4 billion) and would be up and running by the end of his term in 2029.

Canada has said it would be interested in joining the missile system but has dismissed the notion of losing its sovereignty or independence.

In a post on his Truth Social platform Tuesday, Trump said Canada would have to pay $61 billion if it remains independent.

But, Trump added, being part of the "fabulous Golden Dome System" will "cost ZERO DOLLARS if they become our cherished 51st State."

The US president said Canada is "considering" the offer. Ottawa has not yet responded to Trump's latest comments.

Trump's insistence that the US should annex its neighbor to the north has angered many Canadians.

When the recently elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met Trump at the White House this month, he told the US president that Canada was "not for sale."

National Public Radio and three of its local stations are suing President Donald Trump, arguing that his executive order cutting funding to the 246-station network violates free speech.

The American public broadcasting organization, along with local stations Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio and KSUT Public Radio, want Trump's order blocked and declared unconstitutional.

Earlier this month, Trump ordered the withdrawal of funding for NPR and for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The executive order stated that taxpayer subsidies for what he termed "partisan media" would be ended.

Read more here.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered new appointments for students visas to be halted in an internal State Department communication.

In the cable, first reported by magazine Politico, Rubio said that the department sought to issue updated guidance on social media vetting of student and exchange visitor applicants.

Consular sections were advised to halt scheduling these types of visa appointments.

"The Department is conducting a review of existing operations and processes for screening and vetting of student and exchange visitor (F, M, J) visa applicants, and based on that review, plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting for all such applicants," the Reuters news agency quoted text from the cable.

Trump administration officials have said that student visa and green card holders are subject to deportation over pro-Palestinian activism or support.

A Turkish Tufts University student was held for over six weeks in an immigration detention center in Louisiana after co-authoring an opinion piece criticizing her school's response to Israel's war in Gaza.

She was released from custody after being granted bail by a federal judge.

Last week a judge blocked the White House's bid to halt Harvard's ability to enroll foreign students after the school sued the Trump administration.

Harvard called the revocation a "blatant violation" of the US Constitution.

The United States looks to be following through with a tough stance on immigration with an order for foreign missions to halt scheduling new student visa appointments.

There has been concern that US authorities will ramp up deportations and revoke student policies as part of the Trump administration's efforts to tighten immigration controls.

This blog will keep you updated with this story plus other news from the United States.