The US president has hailed the detention of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil over his pro-Palestine activism, describing him as a “Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student”, Al Jazeera reports.

“This is the first arrest of many to come. We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

“Many are not students, they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathisers from our country — never to return again.”

Khalil is a legal permanent resident. His arrest has raised the alarm over violations of free speech to shield Israel from criticism in the US.