President Donald Trump has said the Palestinian activist's arrest near Columbia University was the first of more to come.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman is due to hear from lawyers for student activist Mahmoud Khalil, 29, and the federal government at 11:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT) in Manhattan federal court.

When protests over the Israel-Hamas war took root on Columbia University's campus last spring, Mahmoud Khalil became a familiar, outspoken figure in a student movement that soon spread to other U.S.