President-elect Donald Trump came out in favor of visas for skilled foreign workers on Saturday, siding with Elon Musk againts Steve Bannon and much of the MAGA base in a raging battle over the issue.
In an exclusive with Jon Levine with The New York Post, Trump bragged he employed foreign nationals at many of his properties. He also praised programs that allow foreign workers to travel to the US for jobs – jobs that many on the far-right have spent days arguing are being stolen out from underneath American citizens.
Bannon was among those to take a side on the visas this week when he scorched Musk as a “toddler” amid the legal immigration GOP civil war.
While talking to the Post, Trump threw Bannon and many longtime, hardline immigration proponents and supporters under the bus
“I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump told the Post of the H-1B program that doles out jobs for skilled foreign workers.
Trump added, “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.”
The president-elect did not specify what jobs foreign workers were doing at his properties or what properties he was referring to.
Trump owns companies in tech, hospitality, and real estate – meaning those he employs could be doing jobs from landscaping to IT.
His comments sparked an immediate reaction from conservatives online, many who had spent days arguing with Musk and venture capitalist Vivek Ramswamy on the visas:
Conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair decided not to attack Trump or Musk but to direct her ire at Levine – who interviewed Trump Saturday.
“Trump said he has ‘tons of H1B workers’ on his properties,” she posted on X. “His property workers have J1 visas. Jon Levine is an idiot & hack for calling Trump with no context and zero follow-up questions. Made a disaster PR cycle when this isn’t even Trump’s position.”
Musk dug in on the issue of visas earlier in the week and was still going to the mat for foreign workers late Friday night.
In one exchange on his platform, Musk wrote that, “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
Take a big step back and FUCK YOURSELF in the face,” Musk wrote. “I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.”
