Trump Sides With H-1B Visa? Comments: ‘We Have to Bring in People’

In an interview last Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to defend the H-1B visa program with the following words: “We have to bring in talent.” In an almost counterclockwise and counterintuitive turn, he added that the United States “does not have plenty of talent.”

During this one-on-one interview with Fox News, Trump was faced with the following question: “If you want to raise wages for Americans, you can’t flood the entire country with thousands of foreign workers.” It is in this context that the remark of the President has emerged.

What follows is a comprehensive breakdown of this news piece by the EB-1 experts.

What exactly did President Trump say, and what came afterwards?

In response to the interviewer, at first, the President responded, saying: “I agree, but we also do have to bring in talent.”

He added further weight to his comment, saying: "You can’t take people off the unemployment line and say, ‘go make missiles.’”

Trump prefers competent people coming to the U.S.

Notwithstanding the administration’s policies, Donald Trump asserted several times that he stands by the H-1B program and that the U.S. needs competent people. For instance, in January, Donald Trump remarked the following:

“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. I don't want to stop…”

Trump reportedly said the same during an event with Oracle CTO Larry Ellison, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Moreover, Trump added in passing that he had himself used the H-1B visa programme: “We want competent people coming into our country. And H-1B, I know the programme very well. I use the programme. Maître d', wine experts, even waiters, high-quality waiters, you've got to get the best people. People like Larry, he needs engineers, NASA also needs... engineers like nobody's ever needed them,” as reported by the PTI.

In other words, Trump sees H-1B as an indispensable part of nation-building and profit-making for the U.S., since it allows U.S companies to employ foreign workers in different specialty occupations and technical expertise. Moreover, many technology companies rely on it to hire many foreign talents each year from countries like India and China.

The main takeaway

Trump’s statements clearly show a desire for further leniency on the H-1B program. He clearly admits that this program is indispensable for the development of the nation, and to seek out the best foreign talents. We are yet to see any further reflection of it in the administrative policy.

Our EB-1A green card consultancy is constantly staying updated on the latest news in the U.S. visa landscape. Stay tuned to our blog sections to read all the latest insights and analytics.

Sources and further readings

1. Anand, Akriti. “Trump Goes Soft on H-1B Visas? He Admits America ‘Doesn’t Have Plenty of Talent, We Have to Bring in People’.” Livemint, November 12, 2025.
2. Kalita, Karishma Saurabh. “‘US Doesn’t Have Enough Talent’: Trump Defends H-1B Visa Plan after Fee Hike.” NDTV, November 12, 2025. .
3. “Trump Says the US Doesn’t Have Talent to Fill Jobs, Needs Foreign Workers.” 1011Now, November 12, 2025.