President Donald Trump. / File photo/Lalit K Jha

In a surprising turn of events, President Donald Trump has softened his stand on H-1B visas, noting the need for migrant workers in the country. Trump, during a recent interview with FOX News, remarked that he supported bringing in "talented people" from abroad to take on specialized roles that require advanced skills.

The U-turn comes to the disappointment of his core MAGA support base, which had elected him for his staunch anti-immigration stance. In September 2025, he imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B applications, making migration harder for individuals and more expensive for countries. The move drew large-scale criticism from the Indian community since about 70 percent of current H-1B visa holders are Indians.

When asked whether H-1B was a big priority for him, since raising wages for Americans was not compatible with bringing in thousands of immigrants, Trump, for the first time since announcing his hardline H-1B rule modifications, acknowledged the need for an immigrant workforce.

Trump said, "You don’t have certain talents. People have to learn. You can’t take people off the unemployment line and say go make missiles."

The softening in Trump's approach comes amid recent reports of the Labor Department conducting more than 170 investigations of H-1B visa fraud under Project Firewall.

ALSO READ: Over 175 potential H-1B frauds by employers under probe: US Department of Labor

A day after President Donald Trump publicly backed the need for skilled foreign workers, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the country will keep using its visa programs, including the H-1B, while tightening vetting and enforcement.

“We're going to keep using our visa programmes. We're just going to make sure that they have integrity, that we're actually doing the vetting of the individuals who come into this country, that they want to be here for the right reasons, that they're not supporters of terrorists and organisations that hate America,” Noem told Fox News.

The Right reacts

The president's comments have not gone down well with his MAGA supporters, who view immigration as one of the biggest hurdles in making America Great Again.

MAGA influencer and Turning Point USA contributor Savanah Hernandez described the comments by Trump as "disheartening" and remarked on X, "Trump needs to get out of his bubble and back on the ground listening to the American people who elected him to work for us." She added, "His H-1B comment shows how out of touch with the base he has become."

Another longtime Trump supporter, Matt Morse, decried the comments as "Absolutely Unreal." Morse also called for the firing of "whoever's in Trump's inner-circle that's been telling him that we need more H-1B visas."

Talking about the Americans who will be affected by the policy shift, Morse added, "They were discriminated against in the universities, they were discriminated against in the hiring systems, and now, on top of all of that, they’re being replaced by a low-wage, low-skill workforce from India."

However, Trump also found favor from his inner circle. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remarked that Trump’s new approach to the H-1B visa program was designed to bring skilled foreign workers to the United States temporarily, not to replace American jobs. He said, "Train the US workers. Then, they can go home. Then, the US workers fully take over."

Democrats call it U-turn

Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal nicknamed Trump "TACO Trump," standing for "Trump Always Chickens Out," due to his pattern of announcing aggressive tariff threats only to reverse course when markets react negatively. Trump's policy reversal on the H-1B visa program can also be said to be cut from the same cloth.

Ajay Jain Bhutoria, former Biden White House advisor, described the situation as a "classic U-turn" by Trump. He said, “In essence, no strong change from policy perspective is being implemented around H1 and his 100k fees.” He added, “I urge our communities not to panic. Tough times never last but tough people do.”

Highlighting the demand for systemic reform, he said, "I fully support higher wages for H-1B, strict scrutiny of candidates, English proficiency, and severe punishment for companies and staffing agencies committing fraud.”

Bhutoria also pointed out the reason for the U-turn and remarked that tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Tesla, Nvidia, and Meta have quietly pressed the administration to preserve the program. He said, "When Trump asks them to invest in the USA, they’ve made it clear: they need the H-1B pipeline to stay open."

Bhutoria also reassured the 1.2 million Indian H-1B holders and their families and said, “America’s edge has always been its ability to attract the world’s best minds. That hasn’t changed—and it won’t.”