President Donald Trump has defended his recent support for H-1B visas, arguing that the United States needs to bring in skilled foreign workers to bolster key industries, despite backlash from within his base.
Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said America no longer had enough trained workers in specialized areas like semiconductor manufacturing, and that importing talent was necessary until domestic workers could be trained.
“We don’t make chips too much here anymore, but we are going to be in a period of a year, we’re going to have a big portion of the chip market. But we have to train our people to make chips,” he said.
Trump’s renewed defense of the H-1B program puts him directly at odds with some of the most vocal figures in the MAGA movement, who view the visas as harmful to American workers and a betrayal of his immigration stance.
His comments expose a growing tension inside the Republican Party, as the party’s populist wing seeks to curb high-skilled immigration, while the tech and manufacturing sectors warn that foreign workers are essential to fill gaps in domestic expertise.
Trump recently sparked backlash from his supporters when he defended the H-1B visa program while speaking to Fox News’ Laura Ingraham.
“You also do have to bring in talent,” he told her. When Ingraham contended that the U.S. had “plenty of talented people,” Trump responded: “No, you don’t, no you don’t.
“You don’t have certain talents, and people have to learn. You can’t take people off an unemployment line and say ‘I’m gonna put you into a factory and we’re going to make missiles,'” he said.
On Monday, the president doubled down, arguing that American workers did not have the skills needed to produce semiconductors, an industry he said the U.S. had “foolishly” allowed to move largely to Taiwan, and which he now planned to grow domestically.
Many prominent Republicans have advocated for limiting or abolishing the H-1B visa program entirely.
The Trump administration earlier this year introduced a $100,000 fee for companies seeking H-1B visas for their workers.
Conservative podcaster Steven Crowder wrote on X in response to Trump’s comments: “There’s no shortage of talent in America. If H-1B visas were really about ‘the best and brightest,’ they wouldn’t all go to the cheapest bidder.”
Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said on X last week: “I am introducing a bill to END the mass replacement of American workers by aggressively phasing out the H-1B program. Big Tech, AI giants, hospitals, and industries across the board have abused the H-1B system to cut out our own people.”
Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said on X last week: “Republicans have a majority in Congress and could legislate elimination of H-1B (and any programs designed to import cheap foreign labor). Deeds, not words, are what matter.”
Trump’s support for H-1B visas is likely to continue to put him at odds with conservatives who want to curb foreign labor.
