A photograph of US President Donald Trump with the 2025 US Physics Olympiad team sparked a debate on immigration and meritocracy. It showed Trump with five immigrant-origin students who won five gold medals at the International Physics Olympiad in July, marking their "greatest performance in team history." Policy backlash Photo highlights contradiction in Trump's policies Critics argue that these policies could hinder the contributions of such talented individuals to the US. Zero 'ethnic white Americans' on the physics team. Team profile Agastya Goel is an Indian-origin student The five-member US Physics team included Agastya Goel, Allen Li, Joshua Wang, Feodor Yevtushenko, and Brian Zhang.