Trump's Business Sought to Hire Nearly 200 Employees on Visas in 2025
The former president’s family business increased its hiring of overseas employees on short-term work permits this period, while his administration was creating barriers for other companies wanting to do the identical, an analysis released Thursday stated.
Based on information from the federal labor department, the Trump Organization aimed to hire at least 184 foreign workers in 2025 for short-term roles at the US president’s Mar-a-Lago resort, two golf clubs and his Virginia winery.
The number of applications for temporary work visas for staff including waitstaff, office assistants, cleaning staff, culinary employees and agricultural laborers was the highest ever submitted by the organization, and up from 121 in 2021, when Trump’s first term concluded.
It was also the fifth time in a decade that Trump had attempted to hire more than 100 foreign employees for temporary positions at his Florida resort, based on available data.
The revelation coincides with a crackdown on legal immigration by his government that has included the introduction of a $100,000 fee on skilled worker visas; increased review of the actions of the 55 million people who already hold US visas; and restrictive new rules for foreign students and reporters.
Overall, the Trump Organization aimed to hire 566 overseas workers over the five years the former president has been in the White House, from 2017 to 2021 and during 2025.
Significantly, Trump was questioned by some in the GOP this period for comments defending the need for foreign workers when a business was unable to find people with “specific talents” to occupy certain positions.
“You can’t just say a nation is coming in, going to spend $10bn to construct a facility, and going to recruit individuals off an jobless roster who have been unemployed in years, and they’re going to start producing their defense systems. It doesn’t work that effectively,” he stated to a host after it was implied that foreign workers undercut the pay of American employees.
The administration refused a request for response, and the Trump Organization did not provide an answer to an request for information.
