Need to bring in talented people, don’t have many in US: Trump on H-1B visa

US President Donald Trump appears to have softened his stance on his administration’s aggressive push on H-1B visa reforms, acknowledging the need for specialised foreign talent to fill critical roles in the American workforce.

During a TV interview on Tuesday, Trump defended the value of skilled immigrant workers, arguing that the US could not simply repurpose long-term unemployed Americans for complex roles in manufacturing and defence without extensive training.

When the interviewer said the US had “plenty of talented people,” Trump countered, “No, you don’t. There are certain skills you don’t have, and people have to learn them. You can’t take people off the unemployment line and say, ‘I’m going to put you into a factory where we're going to make missiles.’”

Trump cited an example from the state of Georgia, where, according to him, the removal of skilled foreign workers created difficulties in manufacturing complex products. His remarks mark a notable shift from his earlier stance on foreign worker visas, particularly the H-1B programme, which has been a central topic in US debates over immigration and employment.