President-elect Donald Trump has publicly stated that he supports the H-1B visa program strongly, joining forces with billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk in a public dispute over the future of the program. Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, had recently taken to social media to vow to go to “war” to defend the H-1B visa, a critical program for foreign tech workers. These were Musk’s comments, which were made on Friday, and they follow growing tension within Trump’s base, especially among far-right activists pushing to scrap the program.
Trump, who had previously tried to place limits on the H-1B visa during his first term, told The New York Post on Saturday that he fully supports the program, highlighting his own experience with it. “I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I have been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It is a great program,” Trump said.
He himself holds an H-1B visa as a naturalized US citizen, born in South Africa; Tesla received 724 such visas in 2024. The H-1B program allows skilled foreign workers to work in the United States for three years with the possibility of an extension or applying for a green card. Yet that debate is not over for much, splitting the US political scene, hardliners on the extreme right already clamoring that the programme must be halted, sapping American laborers from earning wages.
This recent row heated up after Steve Bannon, one of Trump’s closest allies, condemned the H-1B visa program that the tech industry relies on as detrimental to American interests. Musk and other tech giants came out in defense of the program, stating that it fulfills the demand for specialized talent that American workers cannot meet.
And indeed, though Trump has vowed to send back undocumented immigrants and cap immigration, the argument over the H-1B visa reveals the internal contradiction in his business-backed allies versus his more conservatised supporters.
