❓WHAT HAPPENED: President Donald J. Trump claims that companies building major U.S. chip plants will require thousands of skilled foreign workers to keep projects operational, though he claims these foreign workers will only be temporary.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Donald Trump, foreign workers, and U.S. chip manufacturing companies.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday, November 19, 2025, at the U.S.-Saudi Arabia Investment Forum in Washington, D.C.
💬KEY QUOTE: “We’re not going to be successful if we don’t allow people that invest billions of dollars in plants and equipment to bring a lot of their people from their country to get that plant open, operating, and working. I’m sorry.” – Donald Trump
🎯IMPACT: Trump’s comments will be controversial among his base. Notably, a large swath of the MAGA movement opposes the H-1B visa program at scale and the use of cheap foreign labor. However, the administration claims that these workers will only be in the U.S. to train Americans and will do so on a temporary basis.
President Donald J. Trump stated on Wednesday that companies constructing major U.S. chip plants will need to bring in “thousands” of foreign workers to ensure the projects remain operational, although he claimed these jobs will only be temporary, with the foreign workers intended to train American workers. He made these remarks during the U.S.-Saudi Arabia Investment Forum held in Washington, D.C.
“They just don’t understand,” Trump said of his own MAGA political base, which has been critical of H-1B visas and American corporate reliance on cheap foreign labor. The President argued, “People have to be taught this is something they’ve never done. But we’re not going to be successful if we don’t allow people that invest billions of dollars in plants and equipment to bring a lot of their people from their country to get that plant open, operating, and working. I’m sorry.”
Trump argued that welcoming such workers, particularly those on H1-B visas, is essential for the success of these ventures. He described the move as “MAGA,” saying that these jobs cannot be sourced from “the unemployment line.” He did acknowledge the political backlash he is likely to receive, however, saying: “This makes my poll numbers go down with my base, but my poll numbers go up with smart people.”
This is not the first time that Trump has riled his own political base on the topic of foreign workers. Shortly after his re-election in 2024, Trump embraced the pro-H-1B rhetoric of billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk. This sparked a fraught digital debate over Christmas and into the New Year. In January 2025, Trump also shared pro-H-1B talking points from the far-left Boston Globe‘s editorial board.
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