Topline
President-elect Donald Trump reportedly said Saturday he supports the H-1B visa program, siding with Elon Musk in a feud that has divided Trump world as some of his allies on the far-right have attacked the program in an extension of their anti-immigration stance.
Elon Musk speaks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at a viewing of the launch of the sixth test ... [+]
Key Facts
Trump told The New York Post he has “always been in favor of the visas,” which allow U.S. employers to hire foreign workers on a short-term basis for jobs that require “highly specialized knowledge” and are frequently used by the tech industry.
Trump reportedly said he has “many H-1B visas” on his properties, calling it “a great program.”
Trump weighed in on the issue amid a deepening divide among his allies that was sparked when Trump announced Sunday he hired venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan as a senior policy adviser for artificial intelligence—Krishanan has advocated for eliminating caps on green cards and skilled immigration programs.
The conflict spiraled into a larger debate on American workforce culture, race and immigration and escalated Friday and into Saturday, with Musk doubling down on his defense of the program, writing on X that “contemptible fools must be removed from the Republican Party, root and stem” in response to a post from right-wing commentator Scott Adams that “MAGA is taking a page from Democrats on how to lose elections while feeling good about themselves.”
Musk later clarified that he was referring to “those in the Republican Party who are hateful, unrepentant racists.”
Trump ally Steve Bannon also dedicated two of his “War Room” podcasts released Saturday to the issue, blasting the H-1B program and Silicon Valley and calling the visa program “an economic and financial scam” with “a dark underpinning of hatred of American citizens and our beloved Republic.”
Bannon said he has “full respect” for Musk, but challenged him to back up his claims that his companies depend on H1B visas by publishing data on “every engineer hired on H1B and prove Americans couldn’t fill those roles.”
Crucial Quote
“The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B,” Musk, who was born in South Africa, wrote Saturday on X. “Take a big step back and F—K YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.”
Contra
Trump hasn’t always been as supportive of H-1B visas as he claimed to The New York Post. During his 2016 campaign, he called the program “very bad” and “unfair” to U.S. workers and tightened restrictions on H-1B applications as president. The Biden administration earlier this month issued a new rule to make the program more accessible to employers by simplifying the application process and providing more leeway to employers in determining eligibility.
Key Background
In addition to Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy and venture capitalist David Sacks also defended Krishnan and the H-1B program against attacks spearheaded by far-right Trump supporter Laura Loomer. She called Krishnan’s hiring “deeply disturbing” and said that “allowing big tech executives into Mar-A-Lago is going to be the death of our country. Isn’t it?” Trump sided with Musk Saturday as the two have deepened their alliance. Politicos and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have observed what they say is Musk’s growing influence on the incoming Trump administration, leading some of Trump’s critics to take jabs at him by suggesting Musk is a shadow president of sorts. Earlier this month, Musk effectively killed the initial GOP government spending plan when he blasted the bill in a series of tweets, leading Trump to echo Musk’s concerns hours later and sending Republicans back to the drawing board. Trump has hired Musk and Ramaswamy to lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency, and Musk was the biggest donor of the 2024 election cycle, giving more than $250 million to help elect Trump, who has dismissed the “President Musk” jabs.
Tangent
In addition to tech companies using H-1Bs to hire engineers and other similar jobs, the program is used across a broad array of industries, including architecture, medicine, education, business, law, theology and the arts. The U.S. issues 65,000 of the visas every year, plus 20,000 more to workers who have masters degrees or higher from a U.S. university. More than 700,000 people held H-1B visas in 2023, according to the American Immigration Council. They are valid for three years and can be extended for up to six.
Further Reading
What Are H-1B Visas? The Immigration Policy Dividing Elon Musk And Trump’s Allies Explained (Forbes)
The Billionaires Trump’s Picked For Next Administration: Elon Musk, Tilman Fertitta And More (Forbes)
