Wall Street Journal backs Trump on H-1B visas: 'Enlightened nationalism'
The Wall Street Journal backed President-elect Trump’s stance on visas for highly skilled workers amid a contentious debate between Trump’s Silicon Valley supporters and the anti-immigrant contingent of his MAGA base.
Trump came out in support of the H-1B visa program Saturday, siding with his "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) co-Chairs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
“Donald Trump may be wrong in trying to save TikTok, but he is right to endorse the value of H-1B visas in the dispute between Elon Musk and Steve Bannon,” the Journal’s editorial board wrote Sunday. “Mr. Trump is choosing the side of enlightened nationalism, as opposed to the blinkered, declinist version.”
The president-elect said in an interview with the New York Post published Saturday that he has “always been in favor” of the program.
“I have many H-1B visas on my properties,” he said, according to the Post. “I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program.”
While the Journal suggested Trump might be confusing the H-1B program with the H-2B program he has used for workers at his hotel properties, it noted that “both are legal programs that help to fill labor needs in the U.S. economy.”
“Some conservatives want to define nationalism solely by geography and ethnicity,” the Journal added. “But the U.S. has thrived because it has invited talented newcomers from many nations who add to U.S. strength and vitality. This is intelligent nationalism of the kind we assume Mr. Trump wants.”
The debate erupted online last week after Trump appointed venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan to serve as senior policy advisor for artificial intelligence.
Following his appointment, far-right activist Laura Loomer resurfaced a post from Krishnan in November in which he urged Musk and DOGE to look at removing “country caps on green cards/unlock skilled immigration.”
Loomer called Krishnan’s appointment “deeply disturbing,” suggesting he sought to remove caps on green cards so foreign students “can come to the US and take jobs that should be given to American STEM students.”
Several conservative tech leaders jumped to Krishnan’s defense and argued in favor of increasing highly skilled immigration, including the H-1B visa program. Musk contended there is a need for foreign-born workers in Silicon Valley because of a “dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America.”
Ramaswamy also joined the discourse, arguing there are too few U.S.-born engineers because American culture has “venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long” — comments that sparked a firestorm online.
Former United Nations ambassador and onetime Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley slammed Ramaswamy, arguing there is "nothing wrong with American workers or American culture."
The debate turned increasingly contentious, with Musk calling his fellow Trump supporters “contemptible fools” and suggesting they “be removed from the Republican Party, root and stem.”
Loomer also accused Musk of censoring her posts on his social platform X, arguing that he was not living up to his self-claimed status as a “free speech absolutist.”