Judge says in ruling that Harvard had showed it would ‘sustain immediate and irreparable injury’
As we just reported, in her brief ruling granting Harvard’s restraining order against the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke its ability to enrol foreign students, district judge Allison Burroughs wrote that the university “made a sufficient showing … that, unless its motion for a temporary restraining order … is granted, it will sustain immediate and irreparable injury before there is an opportunity to hear from all parties”.
Key events
I spoke too soon. Reuters is reporting that Donald Trump is making the nuclear announcement now and signing his executive orders.
His secretary of the interior, Doug Burgum, said there will be four orders signed.
Trump expected to sign executive orders to boost nuclear industry – Reuters
Executive orders were on Donald Trump’s schedule for 1pm ET today. It’s obviously now way past that time but, as you may know, Trump often runs a tad late to these things. He has also been unusually quiet on Truth Social for the past six hours … so I’ll bring you the latest on what’s happening with the orders when we know more.
Earlier, Reuters reported that as early as today Trump was due to sign executive orders meant to accelerate nuclear energy development. Trump is expected to streamline the regulatory process for new reactor approvals and enhance fuel supply chains, the news agency reported citing four sources familiar with the matter. The report saw shares of nuclear power companies surge.
‘No more open-ended conflicts’: JD Vance says use of military force under Trump will be ‘cautious and decisive’
Earlier, vice-president JD Vance said that the US under Donald Trump will choose carefully when to use military force and will avoid involvement in open-ended conflicts in what he called a break from recent US policies.
Delivering the commencement address at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, also said that the US faces serious threats from China, Russia and other nations and will have to maintain its technological edge. He told graduates, who will become officers in the navy and marine corps:
The era of uncontested US dominance is over.
Vance said Trump’s order to use force against Houthi rebels in Yemen ultimately led to a ceasefire as part of a deal in which the group agreed to halt attacks on American shipping targets in the Gulf.
“We ought to be cautious in deciding to throw a punch, but when we throw a punch, we throw a punch hard, and we do it decisively.
Vance, who served in the marines, said some recent presidents got the US involved in conflicts that were not essential to American national security. While he didn’t identify past presidents for criticism, his comments suggested he was talking about George W Bush, who launched US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his successor Barack Obama, who kept up the war in Afghanistan. The US’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 under Joe Biden also continues to be sharply criticized by Trump.
“We had a long experiment in our foreign policy that traded national defense and the maintenance of our alliances for nation building and meddling in foreign countries’ affairs, even if those foreign countries had very little to do with core American interests,” Vance said.
No more undefined missions, no more open-ended conflicts.
Vance said the United States enjoyed a period of dominance after the fall of the Soviet Union and that American policies aimed at the economic integration of US competitors had backfired.
The vice-president’s sharp rhetoric echoed the isolationist tendencies of Trump and marks a huge shift in 21st-century US foreign policy.
Chinese students at Harvard were cancelling flights home today and seeking legal advice on staying in the United States after the Trump’s administration attempt to block the Ivy League university from enrolling foreign students.
The order, which a judge has swiftly blocked for two weeks, accused the university of coordinating with the Chinese Communist party (CCP), among other accusations, sought to force current foreign students to transfer to other schools or lose their legal status.
“I think the Chinese community definitely feels like a more targeted entity compared to other groups,” Zhang, a 24-year-old studying for the PhD in physics, told Reuters.
Some friends gave me advice that I should try not to stay in my current accommodation if things escalate, because they think it’s possible that an [Ice] agent can take you from your apartment.
The number of Chinese international students in the United States has dropped to about 277,000 in 2024 from a high of around 370,000 in 2019, driven partly by growing tension between the world’s two biggest economies and heightened US government scrutiny of some students from China.
Chinese nationals made up a fifth of Harvard’s foreign student intake in 2024, the university says.
Zhang Kaiqi, a master’s student in public health, had packed his luggage and souvenirs ready for a flight back to China today. But upon hearing the news, he urgently cancelled the expensive flight, losing his internship at an American NGO in China. The 21-year-old told Reuters:
I was sad and irritated. For a moment I thought it was fake news.
The most anxious among the Chinese students at Harvard are those with summer jobs as research assistants tied to their visa status, crucial for future PhD applications, he said.
Judge says in ruling that Harvard had showed it would ‘sustain immediate and irreparable injury’
As we just reported, in her brief ruling granting Harvard’s restraining order against the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke its ability to enrol foreign students, district judge Allison Burroughs wrote that the university “made a sufficient showing … that, unless its motion for a temporary restraining order … is granted, it will sustain immediate and irreparable injury before there is an opportunity to hear from all parties”.
As we’ve been reporting, international students at Harvard University were ordered this week to transfer schools or lose their legal status following the Trump administration’s revocation of the university’s eligibility to enroll students from abroad.
While that order was swiftly blocked by a judge, it is one of a series of events creating uncertainty on campuses across the US. It follows the US government’s revocation of hundreds of student visas on various grounds, including minor infractions or participation in protests against the war in Gaza. (Some of those visas have been reinstated.) Academics have also felt the impact of funding cuts and subsequent hiring freezes, leading to hundreds looking to leave the US to work elsewhere.
Whether you are a student or an academic, we would like to hear how you have been affected. Are you considering leaving the US and working abroad? If you are an international student who had plans to study in the US, are you now considering studying elsewhere?
You can tell us if you are planning on leaving the US or changing your mind about studying there using the form via link below, or messaging us. Please share your story if you are 18 or over, anonymously if you wish.
Reuters reports that in her brief order blocking the policy for two weeks, district judge Allison Burroughs said Harvard had shown it could be harmed before there was an opportunity to hear the case in full.
Burroughs, an Obama appointee, scheduled hearings for 27 May and 29 May to consider next steps in the case.
District judge Allison Burroughs’ order provides temporary relief to the thousands of international students who were faced with being forced to transfer under a policy that Harvard called part of the administration’s broader effort to retaliate against it for refusing to “surrender its academic independence”.
Harvard enrolled nearly 6,800 international students in its current school year, equal to 27% of total enrolment.
The Trump administration may appeal Burroughs’ ruling. Spokespeople for the justice department and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Judge issues temporary order blocking the White House from revoking Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students
A US federal judge has blocked the government from revoking Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students just hours after the elite college sued the Trump administration over its abrupt ban the day before on enrolling foreign students.
US district judge Allison Burroughs in Boston issued the temporary restraining order late this morning, freezing the policy that had been abruptly imposed on the university, based in nearby Cambridge, Massachusetts, yesterday.
Harvard University announced earlier this morning that it was challenging the Trump administration’s decision to bar the Ivy League school from enrolling foreign students, calling it unconstitutional retaliation for the school previously defying the White House’s political demands.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston, Harvard said the government’s action a “blatant violation” of the first amendment of the US constitution and will have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders”.
“Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” the 389-year-old school said in its suit.
The “department of government efficiency” (Doge), the group run by the billionaire Elon Musk tasked by the Trump administration to cut back on federal spending, has slashed US Census Bureau surveys it claims are “wasteful”.
According to a Doge post on X, the group “terminated” five separate surveys by the bureau. The group claims the surveys cost $16.5m. It did not specify which surveys were terminated.
The Associated Press reports there is a public process for changing government surveys and that Doge may be violating the law by canceling surveys without going through the proper process.
The US ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, has been named the US’s special envoy for Syria. His appointment comes after the Trump administration announced this month that the US will be lifting its sanctions on the country, after Bashar al-Assad’s ouster.
“President Trump has outlined his clear vision of a prosperous Middle East and a stable Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors,” Barrack said on X. “I am proud to assume the role of the U.S. Special Envoy for Syria and support Secretary Rubio in the realization of the President’s vision.”
The US was one of many countries that placed sanctions on Syria during the decades-long rule of former Assad regime. The Assad government was overthrown in December.
“There’s a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace,” Trump said during a visit to the Middle East this month. “I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness.”
According to Barrack’s post on X, the cessation of sanctions against Syria will help lead to the defeat of the Islamic State militant group.
Barrack, a private equity investor, has been a longtime friend of Trump.
Trump threatens 25% tariff on iPhones if they are not made in US
Dan Milmo
Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on iPhones if they are not made in the United States, as he stepped up the pressure on Apple to build its signature product in America.
The US president caused a pre-trading dip in Apple shares with a post on the Truth Social platform stating that iPhones sold inside the US must be made within the country’s borders. Trump said in the post
I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else. If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the US.
Apple shares dropped 2.5% in premarket trading on Trump’s comments, dragging down US stock index futures.
Trump alarmed Apple investors last month with a series of escalating tariff announcements on goods from China, where the majority of iPhones are assembled, which ratcheted up to total 145%. A couple of days later, however, the administration announced an exemption for smartphones and computers.
Soon afterwards, it was reported that Apple was planning to switch assembly of all iPhones for the US market to India in a bid to swerve the impact of a China trade war. The $3tn (£2.2tn) company is secretive about details of its production processes but analysts estimate that about 90% of its iPhones are assembled in China.
According to the Financial Times, Apple is considering sourcing from India the more than 60m iPhones sold in the US annually by the end of 2026. This would require more than doubling iPhone assembly in India.
Trump rebuked the tech company and its chief executive, Tim Cook, earlier this month over the switch. “I had a little problem with Tim Cook,” the president said, adding:
I said to Tim … we’ve treated you really good, we’ve put up with all the plants that you’ve built in China for years, now you got to build [for] us. We’re not interested in you building in India, India can take care of themselves … we want you to build here.
