The Trump administration has ordered a halt to new student visa interviews. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Trump administration has ordered a halt to new student visa interviews as it considers requiring foreign students to undergo social media vetting as part of their application to study in the United States, Politico reported on Tuesday (May 27, 2025), citing a diplomatic cable.

Contracts with Harvard University

The move comes amid the administration asking federal agencies to cancel contracts with Harvard University worth about $100 million.

The government already has canceled more than $2.6 billion in federal research grants for the Ivy League school, which has pushed back on the administration’s demands for changes to several of its policies.

A draft letter from the General Services Administration directs agencies to review contracts with the university and seek alternate vendors. The administration plans to send a version of the letter on Tuesday (May 27, 2025), a senior administration official said. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations.

The New York Times first reported on the letter.

President Donald Trump has railed against Harvard, calling it a hotbed of liberalism and antisemitism. The school filed a lawsuit April 21, 2025 over the administration’s calls for changes to the university’s leadership, governance and admissions policies. Since then, the administration has slashed the school’s federal funding, moved to cut off enrollment of international students and threatened its tax-exempt status.

The administration has identified about 30 contracts across nine agencies to be reviewed for cancellation, according to another administration official who was not authorised to speak publicly and provided details on the condition of anonymity.

The contracts total roughly $100 million. They include executive training for Department of Homeland Security officials, research on health outcomes related to energy drinks and a contract for graduate student research services.

Agencies with contracts that are deemed critical are being directed not to halt them immediately, but to devise a plan to transition to a different vendor other than Harvard.

The letter applies only to federal contracts with Harvard and not its remaining research grants.

(With inputs from Reuters and AP)