Overview
- Speaking in Washington, the president said chip and other high‑tech plants will need to bring in thousands of specialists rather than hiring “off an unemployment line.”
- He framed a train‑then‑return approach, asserting that temporary foreign experts would open U.S. facilities, teach American workers, and then go home.
- The remarks sharpened an internal rift as MAGA‑aligned critics, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, denounced H‑1B and similar visas as displacing U.S. workers.
- The White House has simultaneously tightened program rules, including a presidential proclamation adding a $100,000 fee on certain new H‑1B petitions, Labor Department “Project Firewall” probes, and State Department visa revocations.
- Trump cited a September immigration raid at a Georgia battery site, saying he intervened so detained foreign contractors could return to help train U.S. employees and keep the project on track.