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Royal showdown: Canadian PM’s daughter Cleo Carney & Belgian Royal Princess Elisabeth caught in Harvard-Trump row

Royal showdown: Canadian PM’s daughter Cleo Carney & Belgian Royal Princess Elisabeth caught in Harvard-Trump row

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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to terminate Harvard University's Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification

The Donald Trump administration in the US on Friday (May 23) revoked Harvard University's eligibility to admit international students. The decision has left the future of thousands of foreign students, including Indians, uncertain.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to terminate Harvard University's Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification. She stated that “it is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students.”


The DHS accused Harvard's leadership of creating an unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals, including many Jewish students. It also said that Harvard has not provided details of students involved in terrorist activities and this action against the University holds them “accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus."

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As per the the Canadian Press, there were 686 Canadian students enrolled in Harvard, according to the numbers from 2022 on its website. Among these students is Cleo Carney, daughter of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has just finished her first year at Harvard. She's an undergraduate student at the resource efficiency program.

Another high-profile student caught in the limbo is Princess Elisabeth of Belgium. She is the heir to the Belgian throne and has just completed her first year in a two-year master's program in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Currently, she is in Belgium.

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"Princess Elisabeth has just completed her first year. The impact of (the Trump administration's) decision will only become clearer in the coming days/weeks. We are currently investigating the situation," the Belgian Royal Palace's spokesperson Lore Vandoorne said.

"We are analyzing this at the moment and will let things settle. A lot can still happen in the coming days and weeks," the Palace's communication director, Xavier Baert, added.

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Jatin Verma

With over 12 years of experience in journalism, Jatin is currently working as Senior Sub-Editor at WION. He brings a dynamic and insightful voice to both the sports and the world o...Read More