Trump says he is on ‘both sides’ of H-1B argument
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he was on “both sides” of the H-1B visa argument but emphasized his desire to expand the categories of people coming to the US under the program. He mentioned that this should include maitre d’s, wine experts, and high-quality waiters.
The debate around the H-1B visa program has intensified among Republicans, including within the Trump administration. The program allows US employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations for three to six years to address talent shortages. Some conservatives argue that the program has been misused to replace American workers with lower-wage foreign alternatives.
“I like both sides of the argument, but I also like very competent people coming into our country, even if that involves them training and helping other people that may not have the qualifications they do,” Trump said during a news briefing on his first full day in office.
“But I don’t want to stop. And I’m not just talking about engineers,” he added. “I’m talking about people at all levels… Maitre d’s, wine, you know, experts, even waiters, high-quality waiters. You got to get the best people now.”
Most H-1B visas are granted for engineering positions, and during the briefing, Trump referenced prominent figures like Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Masayoshi Son, the Japanese billionaire, who were present for the launch of an AI project in health. Trump noted, “Then you go to people like Larry, and he needs engineers, and Masa needs and this gentleman Altman needs engineers like nobody’s ever needed.”
“By doing that,” Trump continued, referring to bringing skilled workers to the US on H-1B visas, “we’re expanding businesses, and that takes care of everybody. So I’m sort of on both sides of the argument, but what I really do feel is that we have to let really competent people, great people come into our country.”
The US issues 85,000 H-1B non-immigrant short-term work visas annually, including for foreign students enrolled in US colleges and universities. Most of these visas are granted to Indian nationals.
