Donald Trump's attempt to prevent Harvard from accepting international students was placed on indefinite hold by a federal judge on Friday, while the US president claimed that a "deal" with the Ivy League university was being negotiated.

International students will be able to continue attending the prestigious university while a lawsuit brought by Harvard is being heard by the courts, according to an injunction issued by District Judge Allison Burroughs.

Trump claimed that his administration has been in talks with Harvard, although he has reduced government funding for the university and used a variety of strategies to prevent it from accepting international students.

Trump stated in a post on Truth Social on Friday that many people have been inquiring about the situation at Harvard University and the widespread problems that we have been resolving in an attempt to find a solution.

There's a good chance that a deal will be revealed within the next week or so, he added, adding that we have been collaborating closely with Harvard. The settlement will be "mindbogglingly" historic and beneficial to our nation if it is reached on the basis now under discussion.

Regarding the alleged "deal," Trump gave no specifics.

In an effort to get Harvard taken off of an electronic student immigration registry, the Trump administration has directed embassies to refuse visas to foreign students who want to enroll in the Massachusetts-based university.

Harvard has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and other organizations to stop the initiatives, claiming they violated the Constitution and were unlawful.

The judge extended the two temporary restraining orders that Harvard had previously obtained from Burroughs against the government's plan to prohibit overseas students on Friday with a preliminary injunction.

For the 2024–2025 academic year, 27 percent of Harvard's students were international, and they constitute a significant source of revenue.

Harvard contended in court documents that Trump's actions were retaliation for the university's use of its First Amendment rights to oppose government efforts to regulate its curriculum, governance, and faculty and student "ideology.

The Trump administration has promised to bar the university from receiving any more government funds and has slashed about $3.2 billion in federal subsidies and contracts that benefit it in addition to the campaign against international students.

Trump has been using Harvard as a focal point in his campaign against elite colleges because it refused to comply with his demands for inspection of its hiring practices, curriculum, student recruitment, and "viewpoint diversity."

Harvard and other prominent universities are allegedly unaccountable for their liberal, anti-conservative, and anti-Semitic prejudice, according to Trump and his supporters.