students for the next six months.

US President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Wednesday local time imposing the ban. However, Harvard authorities have called his decision retaliatory.

"This is yet another unlawful and retaliatory action by the administration, which violates Harvard's rights under the First Amendment to the (United States) Constitution," Harvard said in a statement.

The statement also stated that Harvard remains committed to protecting its international students.

Over the past few weeks, Trump has been taking a series of "punitive" measures against Harvard University. The Trump administration has cut off most of the university's funding in several rounds. Various restrictions have also been imposed on the admission of international students.

The Trump administration is

seeking to take control of Harvard, the oldest university in the United States. As part of this process, President Trump is taking action against the university, raising various allegations, including the hiring of Democrats and hard-leftists at Harvard.

Although the university has denied these allegations, Harvard authorities have also approached the court against the Trump administration's decision.

Meanwhile, in another executive order issued on the same day, Trump banned citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States. It will take effect on Monday (June 9). With this ban, Trump repeated one of the most controversial actions of his first term.

The new ban covers citizens

of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Trump has also imposed a partial travel ban on seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.