Trump defends Chinese farmland purchases and warns against curbing Chinese students

President Donald Trump defended Chinese purchases of U.S. farmland and urged against restricting Chinese student enrollment at American universities during an interview on Thursday with Sean Hannity, drawing criticism from some within his party and highlighting an ongoing tension between economic ties and national security concerns. The comments came as Trump was in China for high-profile talks with President Xi Jinping, marking the first visit by an American president in nearly a decade.

On farmland, Trump said removing Chinese buyers from the market would depress prices and harm farmers. He told Hannity, You want to see farm prices drop, you want to see farmers lose a lot of money? Just take that out of the market. Trump also argued that such purchases have already occurred for years, saying they were made largely during the Obama administration. He defended the idea as a matter of market impact rather than a broader policy shift.

National security concerns over foreign ownership of farmland, including fears that adversaries could use land to gather information, have been longstanding. Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited in the coverage indicated Chinese primary...