U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 26, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that U.S. colleges would struggle without Chinese students, amid a backlash from his base after he suggested he could let 600,000 Chinese college students into the country as part of trade talks with the economic rival.

Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, said on Wednesday that the ministry hoped the U.S. would follow through on Trump's statement welcoming Chinese students and stop the "unprovoked harassment, interrogation, and deportation" of Chinese students.

(Reporting By Trevor Hunnicutt and Jarrett Renshaw; Additional reporting by Colleen Howe in Beijing; Editing by Chris Reese and Muralikumar Anantharaman)