Trump's Organization Sought to Bring In Nearly 200 Workers on Visas in 2025
Donald Trump’s family business increased its recruitment of foreign workers on short-term work permits this year, even as his government was creating barriers for other businesses wanting to do the same, a report released Thursday stated.
Based on data from the US Department of Labor, the Trump Organization sought to bring in at least nearly 200 overseas employees in 2025 for temporary positions at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort, two golf clubs and his Virginia winery.
The number of requests for H-2A and H-2B visas covering staff including servers, office assistants, cleaning staff, culinary employees and agricultural laborers was the highest ever submitted by the company, and up from over 120 in the previous term, when his presidency ended.
It was also the fifth instance in a decade that Trump had sought to hire over a hundred overseas workers for temporary positions at Mar-a-Lago, based on available data.
The revelation coincides with a tightening on legal immigration by his administration that has involved the introduction of a $100,000 fee on skilled worker visas; increased review of the actions of the 55 million people who already hold American work permits; and restrictive new rules for foreign students and journalists.
In total, the Trump Organization aimed to hire over 560 overseas workers over the period the former president has been in the White House, from 2017 to 2021 and during the upcoming year.
Significantly, the former president was criticized by some in the Republican party this week for remarks justifying the need for foreign workers when a company was unable to find people with “specific talents” to fill certain positions.
“You cannot just say a nation is coming in, going to spend $10bn to build a facility, and going to take people off an jobless roster who haven’t worked in years, and they’re going to start making their defense systems. It isn’t feasible that well,” he told a host after it was implied that overseas employees undercut the pay of US workers.
The administration refused a request for response, and the Trump Organization did not provide an answer to an request for information.
