President Donald Trump's defense of H-1B visas, used to bring skilled foreign workers into the U.S., sparked anger among social media users within his MAGA movement, who accused him of betrayal and losing touch with what they think.

Trump, in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, said H-1B visas were needed because you "have to bring in talent". When Ingraham pushed back, saying the U.S. has plenty of domestic talent, Trump replied: "No, you don't."

"You don't have certain talents" and "people have to learn," Trump said. "You can't take people off an unemployment line and say, 'I'm going to put you into a factory, we're going to make missiles.'" He added: "It doesn't work that way."

Newsweek has contacted the White House in an email sent outside regular working hours for comment.

Why It Matters

A softening of his position on immigration would be a substantial break with the MAGA movement that helped to deliver him the White House twice.

The centerpiece of Trump's "America First" agenda has been a fierce crackdown on immigration, both legal and illegal, which he says has come at the expense of Americans' economic security and public safety. In September, Trump announced a new $100,000 fee for the H-1B program, saying the statute had been open to "systemic abuse" and artificially suppressed wages.

What To Know

Ingraham asked Trump if H-1B visas "would not be a priority" for the administration. "Because if you want to raise wages for American workers, you can't flood the country with tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands foreign workers."

"I agree," Trump said. "But you also do need to bring in talent."

"We have plenty of talented people here," Ingraham said. "No you don't," Trump replied.

"We don't have talented people here?" she asked.

Trump responded: "You don't have certain talents and people have to learn - you can't take people off an unemployment line and say 'I'm going to put you into a factory where we're going to make missiles."

He later added: "I know you and I disagree on this. You can't just say 'a country's coming in, going to invest $10 billion to build a plant and take people off an unemployment line who haven't worked in five years and they're going to start making missiles. It doesn't work that way."

The uproar comes a day after Trump faced criticism from MAGA supporters over comments made in the same interview defending the need for up to 600,000 Chinese students to be allowed into the U.S..

The president had been quizzed about remarks made in August that hundreds of thousands of Chinese students would be allowed into the US to study. Ingraham said the previous comments were not a “pro-MAGA position” and argued that there were concerns that Chinese students “spy on us” and “steal our intellectual property.”

Trump defended his position, saying the influx of Chinese students was important for American colleges and universities to stay in business.

What People Are Saying

Savanah Hernandez, a MAGA influencer and contributor to conservative youth group Turning Point USA, called Trump's comments "disheartening" in a post on X. She wrote: "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," Hernandez said. "His H-1B comment shows how out of touch with the base he has become."

The "ChiefTrumpster" account on X shared the clip of Trump's comments, saying: "Not good. We need to be prioritizing American students and workers-replacing us isn’t the answer!"

Matt Morse, an "America First" content creator and commentator, called the interview "catastrophic for Trump". He wrote on X: "Whoever's in Trump's inner-circle that's been telling him that we need more H-1B visas, 50 year mortgages, and 600,000 Chinese students needs to be FIRED IMMEDIATELY. AMERICA FIRST."

Morse later followed up: "I am one of the largest pro-Trump commentators in the nation. I get tens of millions of views every single month talking about Trump's America First agenda. And right now, I'm absolutely f****** beyond P***** OFF that tonight, as a justification for H-1B visas, Trump said that Americans don't 'have talent.' Absolutely unreal."

Evan Kilgore, a self-described American nationalist, called it a betrayal. He wrote on X: "Donald Trump has betrayed the American people over some H-1B Indians. It's so over."

The Hodgetwins, an account representing conservative political commentary duo and twin brothers Keith Hodge and Kevin Hodge, wrote on X: "The best thing Trump can do to save MAGA is fire every advisor telling him to say the dumb shit he’s been saying."

It is not certain that the brothers were referring to Trump's latest comments in this post, but they had previously shared the clip of his interview with the caption "WTF."

Conservative commentator Scott Jennings, defended the President's position in a CNN panel discussion. He said: "You can be America First and also recognize there may be times you can import talent from other countries, that makes America stronger, we've done that for decades."

What Happens Next

It remains to be seen what impact the new $100,000 H-1B visa program will have on application numbers. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is also facing a lawsuit from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce arguing the new fee "will make it cost-prohibitive for U.S. employers, especially start-ups and small and midsize businesses, to utilize the H-1B program".