Trump's Business Attempted to Hire Nearly 200 Workers on Visas in 2025
Donald Trump’s family business accelerated its recruitment of foreign workers on temporary visas this year, while his government was creating barriers for other businesses wanting to do the identical, an analysis released Thursday claimed.
Based on data from the US Department of Labor, the business aimed to hire at least nearly 200 foreign workers in 2025 for short-term roles at the former president’s Florida property, golf facilities and his Virginia winery.
The number of requests for H-2A and H-2B visas covering staff including waitstaff, office assistants, housekeepers, kitchen staff and farm workers was the record submitted by the organization, and increased from over 120 in the previous term, when his presidency ended.
It was also the fifth instance in 10 years that the former president had sought to bring in more than 100 foreign employees for seasonal jobs at Mar-a-Lago, based on labor statistics.
The disclosure coincides with a tightening on legal immigration by his government that has included the implementation of a substantial charge on H1-B visas; extra scrutiny of the activities of the millions of people who already hold American work permits; and restrictive new rules for international scholars and reporters.
In total, the business aimed to hire 566 foreign laborers over the five years Trump has been in the White House, from his first term and during 2025.
Significantly, the former president was criticized by some in the GOP this period for remarks defending the need for foreign workers when a business was unable to find people with “particular skills” to fill certain positions.
“You can’t just say a country is entering, going to invest $10bn to build a plant, and going to take people off an jobless roster who haven’t worked in years, and they’re going to start producing their defense systems. It doesn’t work that well,” he told a interviewer after it was implied that overseas employees undercut the wages of American employees.
The administration refused a inquiry for comment, and the business did not provide an answer to an inquiry.
