Trump Defends H-1B Visas on Fox News, Calls Them Essential

President Donald J. Trump stunned viewers and ignited a firestorm within his own base during a fiery late-night interview on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, passionately defending the H-1B visa program and declaring that America lacks the specialized talent needed to compete in high-tech manufacturing and defense.

“You have to bring in talent,” Trump asserted, pushing back against host Laura Ingraham’s argument that restricting foreign worker visas is essential to raising wages for American citizens. “You can’t take people off the unemployment line and say, ‘go make missiles.’”

The exchange, which aired just after 11:00 PM ET on November 11, quickly became the most talked-about political moment of the post-election transition period. Within hours, clips of the interview racked up over 750,000 views on X, with hashtags like #TrumpH1B and #AmericaFirst trending nationwide.

Ingraham, a longtime Trump ally, pressed the president on whether curbing H-1B visas—used by U.S. companies to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations—would be a priority in his second term. “If you want to raise wages for Americans, you can’t flood the country with thousands of foreign workers,” she said.

Trump fired back immediately: “No, you don’t [have the talent here]. You have to bring in talent. People have to learn.”

When Ingraham countered, “We have plenty of talented people here,” Trump doubled down with a real-world example from Georgia.

“I’ll give you an example,” he said. “In Georgia, we raided [a Hyundai plant] for illegal immigrants. They had people from South Korea—very dangerous job. They had 500 to 600 people in the early stages to make batteries, to teach people how to do it. Well, they wanted to kick them out of the country. You need them.”

He continued: “You can’t bring in $10 billion for a plant, take people off the unemployment line, and start making missiles. It doesn’t work that way.”

Trump was referring to a 2024 ICE operation at a Hyundai-Kia electric vehicle battery facility in Bartow County, Georgia—a multi-billion-dollar investment tied to the Biden-era CHIPS and Science Act. While the raid targeted undocumented workers, Trump used the incident to highlight the role of skilled South Korean engineers in training American staff for advanced manufacturing.

The president’s comments triggered an immediate backlash from his core supporters, many of whom view H-1B visas as a betrayal of the “America First” labor agenda.

“Trump just said Americans are too dumb to make missiles. This will NOT fly with Americans,” wrote X user @MAGAHedgehog, whose post garnered over 12,000 likes.

Another prominent conservative voice, @lsferguson, added: “There has NEVER been a job an American can’t do. What exactly is going on here?”

Even some Trump loyalists expressed concern. “H-1B is fine in theory, but it’s been abused for decades to undercut U.S. wages,” posted @JohnJohn7_77. “We need reform, not open borders for tech bros.”

On the other side, pro-H-1B advocates in Silicon Valley and the defense sector celebrated Trump’s remarks as a sign of pragmatic leadership.

“Finally, someone says the truth,” tweeted @brianbobc, a manufacturing consultant. “Electronic assembly, missile guidance systems, semiconductor fab—you can’t train someone off the street in six weeks. These visas are temporary bridges.”

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy—both vocal H-1B supporters and rumored advisors in the Trump transition—have not yet commented publicly. Musk’s companies, Tesla and SpaceX, are among the top users of the program.

Trump’s defense of H-1B comes amid growing pressure from his base to fulfill 2016 campaign promises to protect American workers. During his first term, he suspended the program in 2020 via executive order, citing COVID-19 economic impacts, but has since signaled a more nuanced approach.

Sources close to the transition team tell The Washington Examiner that Trump is considering reforms—such as higher minimum salary thresholds and stricter enforcement against outsourcing firms—rather than outright cuts. The program currently caps at 85,000 visas annually, with 65,000 for general applicants and 20,000 for advanced degree holders.

National security hawks also back Trump’s stance, arguing that U.S. dominance in hypersonics, AI, and next-gen weaponry depends on global talent. “We’re in a tech arms race with China,” said one Pentagon official off-record. “You don’t win that with protectionism.”

The White House has not issued an official statement, but Trump is expected to address immigration and workforce policy in a major speech next week. Meanwhile, Ingraham closed the segment by saying, “We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one, Mr. President.”

As the sun rises over Washington, one thing is clear: Trump’s H-1B comments have exposed a deep rift in the Republican coalition—one that could define the early days of his second term.