Some MAGA supporters in uproar over Trump’s H-1B visa comments
H-1B visas allow employers to hire foreign workers for specialty occupations.
Trump imposes $100,000 fee on H1-B visasPresident Trump signed a proclamation adding a $100,000 annual visa fee for highly-skilled foreign workers. ABC News’ Selina Wang reports.
President Donald Trump is facing backlash from some of the most influential pro-Trump voices over recent comments backing H-1B visas and saying the United States doesn’t have people with “certain talents” to fill jobs, the latest criticism he’s faced from the far-right parts of his MAGA base.
The president made the comments in an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that aired Tuesday night, when she pressed the president on how he plans to handle H-1B visas, which allow companies to hire foreign skilled workers in specialty occupations, with Ingraham suggesting that the program would hurt efforts to raise wages for Americans.
Trump pushed back on Ingraham’s framing, saying, “Well, I agree, but you also do have to bring in talent when a country –”
When Ingraham interjected, “Well, we have plenty of talented people here,” the president replied, “No, you don’t. No, you don’t have certain talents and people have to learn.”
Trump’s H1-B changes raise concerns about US tech economy’s future, ability to recruit specialty talent
Trump’s comments have sparked widespread outrage from prominent voices on the right, ranging from popular MAGA influencer Jack Posobiec to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to Trump supporter and former 1990s “Hercules” actor Kevin Sorbo.
“What an atrocious thing to say. This will cost republicans the midterms,” Sorbo wrote in a post on X.
Prominent pro-Trump podcaster Benny Johnson responded to Trump’s comments by sharing a post Charlie Kirk made on X a few weeks before his assassination, where Kirk called for stopping “the H-1B scam.” Johnson added that he would continue to fight against the issue.
Meanwhile, Kylie Kremer, a diehard Trump supporter who helped organize the rally before the Jan. 6 riot, posted in response, “Where is my President?” and Steven Crowder, another popular right-wing podcaster, called Trump’s comments “as bad as it gets.”
“Was hoping he learned from Elon’s blunder on this one, but it’s not looking like it,” he added.
To try to stop the fracturing of the pro-Trump coalition, Steve Bannon, Trump’s longtime adviser and former White House chief strategist, took to his popular “War Room” show on Wednesday morning to quell the backlash.
“Trump’s not perfect; he’s an imperfect instrument,” Bannon told his viewers, adding that Trump was “infused by divine providence.”
“Without him, we’d have nothing. So stay focused. This is 12 o’clock high; we’re on a bombing run. Don’t lose sight of the mission,” Bannon added.
But the blowback is the latest firestorm the president has faced from his own loyal supporters since returning to office. It follows a similar uproar that engulfed the early days of his presidential transition following the 2024 election, when H-1B visas again became a flashpoint.
The far-right flank of Trump’s base has strongly opposed the program as part of its effort to restrict not only illegal but also legal immigration.
That push came to a head last December — one of the first internal controversies of Trump’s return to power — when a firestorm erupted on the right between the tech wing of the MAGA movement, figures like Elon Musk and David Sacks, who argue H-1B visas help bring in skilled labor for their companies, and far-right influencers like Laura Loomer, who attacked them for not being “America First” enough.
Amid that backlash last year, Trump defended the program in an interview with The New York Post, stating, “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them.”
“I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program,” Trump added.
Trump imposes $100k fee on H-1B Visas
But the president has previously been critical of the program, including during his 2016 campaign, when, during a GOP primary debate, Trump called it “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers while admitting that he uses it at his companies.
“First of all, I think and I know the H-1B very well. And it’s something that I frankly use and I shouldn’t be allowed to use it. We shouldn’t have it,” he said. “Second of all, I think it’s very important to say, well, I’m a businessman and I have to do what I have to do.”
In September, Trump cracked down on the program by signing a proclamation that imposes a $100,000 fee for companies seeking to obtain the visa. Experts say the move will make it difficult for tech firms to expand U.S. operations or incentivize highly talented foreign workers to choose America as the place they launch their next big idea, ABC News previously reported.
The H1-B visa program was created as part of the 1990 immigration bill and allowed foreign prospective employees with college and graduate degrees in select fields such as computer sciences, engineering.
Several major tech CEOs — including Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Google’s Sundar Pichai — are foreign-born and were on H1-B visas after they finished their college and graduate studies in America.
