In the middle of a heated debate between tech moguls and old-school supporters, Donald Trump came out in support of a special visa program designed to bring highly skilled workers into the United States. Speaking to the New York Post, Trump repeated his well-documented support for the H-1B visa program: “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas, that’s why we have them at Trump-owned facilities.” The comment was his first publicly on the issue since it came to light earlier in the week.
The topic has generated an intense fight, especially between Elon Musk and hardline anti-immigration elements in Trump’s base. Musk, a loud supporter of the H-1B program, once said he would go to war to defend it.
Trump’s campaign was heavily centered on the reduction of immigration, a factor that helped him win the election against President Joe Biden. He has long called for the deportation of undocumented immigrants and a decrease in legal immigration.
Tech leaders like Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy believe, however, that the country is not producing enough highly skilled graduates. Musk, himself an H-1B visa entrant to the United States, made the case for recruiting elite engineering talent as key to maintaining America’s competitive edge.
Ramaswamy, the son of Indian immigrants, decried what he sees as an American culture accepting of mediocrity, and warned that the U.S. is in danger of falling behind China on innovation. His comments have angered many conservatives who have been staunchly loyal to Trump and who in recent months have watched the growing influence of tech billionaires in Republican politics.
Laura Loomer, a high-profile far-right figure, bemoaned the pivot. “Looking forward to the inevitable divorce between President Trump and Big Tech,” she said. She and others called on Trump to turn his attention to American workers and further restrict immigration.
As things escalated, Musk fired back at his critics, ominously threatening an imminent “MAGA civil war.” His comments, which included some especially overheated rhetoric aimed at his opponents, did little to lower the temperature. Steve Bannon, a strategist for Trump, denounced Musk’s stance, describing the H-1B program as a means of importing “indentured servants” who steal jobs from Americans.
A growing sense among his original backers that Trump will be beholden to big tech donors such as Musk, and that ultimately, it would undermine his core campaign promises, takes hold. Yet whether these recent comments will move the needle in the intra-party fight remains yet to be seen as the messy work of immigration reform looms.
