Trump wants to keep half a million Chinese students in US universities, but critics warn many could be working for the Chinese government — bad news for US security and good news for Beijing.

• Trump says cutting Chinese students would kill US universities and insult China, and he wants top students to stay and get green cards.
• Critics counter that even 5% being spies means 25,000 potential agents, pointing to the Arcadia, California mayor who just resigned and pleaded guilty to acting as a secret Chinese agent.
• A clip of Philadelphia students unable to read the word "silhouette" fueled the side argument that the US school system is failing and needs the foreign tuition money to survive.
• On trade, Nvidia and Citibank are seen as winners after talks let China buy more powerful chips and gave US banks more access to wealthy Chinese clients.
• On 2028, JD Vance and Marco Rubio are being teed up as rivals, with the split likely to hinge on whether the Iran war escalates.

Outlook: Expect more fights in Washington over Chinese student visas and tighter scrutiny of Chinese-linked local officials, while US-China trade dialogue keeps moving.