"US Need Smart People": Trump Sides With Elon Musk On H-1B Visa Row

US President-elect Donald Trump appeared to side with ally and tech billionaire Elon Musk over the ongoing H-1B row and said America needs "smart people" coming into our country. Mr Musk sparked political turmoil in the Republican camp recently after he vowed to "go to war" to defend the H-1B visa programme.

"I always felt we have to have the most competent people in our country. We need competent people. We need smart people coming into our country. We need a lot of people coming in. We're going to have jobs like we've never had before," Mr Trump told a reporter at his New Year's Eve party.

BREAKING: Donald Trump aligns with Elon Musk in support of H1B Visa.

"We have to have the most competent people in our country. We need smart people coming into our country and we need a lot of people coming in." pic.twitter.com/Cv3amxJjT0 — DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) January 1, 2025

Donald Trump has picked Elon Musk, along with Indian-American tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, to lead his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

About H-1B Visa Programme

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa which allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Tech companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China, and therefore, the sector has long called for more H-1B visas to attract highly skilled workers to the US.

But, Donald Trump's first administration restricted the programme in 2020, arguing that it allows businesses to replace Americans with lower-paid foreign workers. With Mr Trump set to serve a second term in the White House, several of the Republican leader's supporters and immigration hardliners have been increasingly pushing for scrapping the programme.

However, Mr Musk, who was once on an H-1B visa himself, and whose electric vehicle company Tesla has hired workers using the programme, defended the tech industry's need to hire foreign workers. He had been consistently posting on X in favour of the programme.

"There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent. It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley," Mr Musk wrote on December 25 on X.

Debate Over H-1B Visa

However, a debate sparked when Laura Loomer, a right-wing influencer, criticised Mr Trump's selection of Indian-American entrepreneur Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration. Mr Krishnan favours the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the US.

Ms Loomer declared the stance to be "not America First policy" and said the tech executives who have aligned themselves with Mr Trump were doing so to enrich themselves. 

The debate intensified when Mr Ramaswamy criticised American culture for promoting mediocrity instead of focusing on academic excellence and success based on merit. "Trump's election hopefully marks the beginning of a new golden era in America, but only if our culture fully wakes up. A culture that once again prioritises achievement over normalcy; excellence over mediocrity; nerdiness over conformity; hard work over laziness," Mr Ramaswamy said on Thursday.

He faced backlash for the comment. In response, Mr Musk called for removing "contemptible fools" from the Republican Party who oppose his immigration agenda.

"The reason I'm in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H-1B," Mr Musk wrote on X.