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PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: The Trump administration has instructed U.S. missions abroad to halt new appointments for student and exchange visitor visa applicants as it reviews and plans to expand social media vetting.
👥 Who’s Involved: President Donald J. Trump’s administration, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce, and foreign students.
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📍 Where & When: U.S. missions worldwide, as of a cable sent Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
💬 Key Quote: “We will continue to use every tool we can to assess who it is that’s coming here, whether they are students or otherwise,” said State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.
⚠️ Impact: The move impacts international students and exchange visitors. Last week, a federal judge temporarily blocked a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) directive revoking Harvard University’s certification to enroll foreign students.
IN FULL:
The Trump administration has directed U.S. missions overseas to cease scheduling new appointments for foreign student and exchange visitor visa applicants while it reviews and prepares to implement expanded social media vetting processes, according to an internal State Department cable. According to the cable, attributed to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the State Department plans to update procedures for screening foreign students under F, M, and J visa categories. It advises consular sections to suspend new appointments, though existing ones may proceed under current guidelines.
“The Department is conducting a review of existing operations and processes for screening and vetting of student and exchange visitor visa applicants and plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting for all such applicants,” the cable states.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce, while declining to comment on the cable, emphasized the administration’s commitment to rigorous vetting. “We will continue to use every tool we can to assess who it is that’s coming here, whether they are students or otherwise,” Bruce said during a press briefing. The expanded vetting process is expected to require adjustments to resources and operations at consular sections globally. Additionally, the cable underscores prioritizing services for U.S. citizens, immigrant visas, and fraud prevention amid these changes.
The National Pulse reported last week that the Trump administration had moved to revoke Harvard University‘s ability to import foreign students under the student visa program. The decision cites “pro-terrorist conduct” at campus protests and the university’s failure to comply with federal reporting requirements. However, the directive was subsequently temporarily blocked by a federal judge appointed by former President Barack Obama.
Notably, Harvard’s foreign student population comprises 27 percent of its total enrollment.
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: In an effort to keep President Donald J. Trump out of the 2026 U.S. Senate primary in Texas, a SuperPAC backing incumbent Senator John Cornyn has hired former Trump campaign chief and Republican National Committee (RNC) Chief Operating Officer (COO) Chris LaCivita as a senior advisor.
👥 Who’s Involved: Chris LaCivita, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), and President Trump.
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📍 Where & When: LaCivita’s hiring was quietly announced late last week, though The National Pulse’s Editor-in-Chief, Raheem Kassam, first scooped the move on March 5, 2025.
⚠️ Impact: The Cornyn campaign appears to hope that LaCivita will keep President Trump from backing Paxton’s primary challenge and potentially turn the incumbent U.S. Senator’s prospects for re-election around. However, polling has consistently shown Cornyn to be running behind Paxton by double-digits, suggesting that the Texas Attorney General is on course to defeat the Republican-in-name-only incumbent even without an endorsement from the White House.
IN FULL:
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) is bringing on board Chris LaCivita, a controversial campaign aide to President Donald J. Trump’s 2024 campaign, hoping to keep the President out of what is shaping up to be a contentious and expensive U.S. Senate primary. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), an America First conservative and Trump ally, is challenging Cornyn for the U.S. Senate seat. He has been hammering the Senator for his voting record, failure to support Trump, and resistance to the America First agenda.
The National Pulse Editor-in-Chief Raheem Kassas reported in early March that LaCivita was poised to join the Cornyn campaign, despite Axios erroneously claiming the scoop just last week.
D.C. scuttlebutt: One-time Trump campaign chief Chris LaCivita is going (back) to work for routine Trump-basher John Cornyn?
You can't have it both ways, Chris.
Either you're running the RNC and the "outside political operation" for @realDonaldTrump, or you're backing his…
— Raheem J. Kassam (@RaheemKassam) March 5, 2025
LaCivita is being tapped as a senior advisor for Texans for a Conservative Majority, a SuperPAC backing Cornyn’s re-election efforts. However, the long-time Republican political establishment operative continues to be viewed with skepticism—if not outright hostility—by many Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporters over his efforts to sideline some of President Trump’s most loyal and ardent allies. The National Pulse has extensively covered LaCivita’s efforts to undermine MAGA and MAGA-adjacent efforts during the 2024 presidential campaign.
Notably, LaCivita was one of the primary instigators in attacking Project 2025, a move that led to a slow hiring process for the incoming Trump administration. The ramifications are still playing out across key departmental roles.
As co-campaign manager during the 2024 race, LaCivita pushed the Trump campaign to cave to a Democrat campaign to demonize Project 2025. At the time, it was reported that LaCivita had also led efforts to force out Project 2025 director Paul Dans at the Heritage Foundation in what was little more than a turf war over management of the second Trump administration.
In another disturbing instance during the 2024 campaign, LaCivita backed the takeover of America PAC by former DeSantis campaign operatives, who had been accused of running the Florida governor’s primary bid into the ground. This came after LaCivita attempted to install attorney Charlie Spies—a man with ties to Jeb Bush—as chief counsel at the Republican National Committee (RNC). Spies was fired from the RNC after just two months on the orders of President Trump.
Additionally, LaCivita has been accused of being behind numerous campaign leaks. The National Pulse reported in November 2024 that the co-campaign manager was behind leaks to The Atlantic‘s Tim Alberta, attempting to blame young staffer Alex Breusewitz for comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s late-campaign Puerto Rico garbage joke at Madison Square Garden.
There are also allegations that LaCivita diverted millions of campaign dollars to vendors that were overcharging for their services. Even more troubling, when campaign staff began to blow the whistle on the overcharges, at least one came forward and alleged that a campaign conference room had been bugged to allow senior staff to spy on their colleagues.
Following the 2024 U.S. presidential election, LaCivita began working with Albania’s Sali Berisha, an opposition leader against Prime Minister Edi Rama. Under U.S. sanctions, Berisha launched a failed bid for Prime Minister and lost the May 11, 2025, election to Rama. Five days before the election, the Trump administration lifted the sanctions.
Polling data consistently shows Paxton has a significant lead over Cornyn in the Texas Republican primary.
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