Trump Organization Sought to Bring In Nearly 200 Workers on Work Permits in 2025
The former president’s family business accelerated its hiring of overseas employees on short-term work permits this year, even as his administration was creating barriers for other companies wanting to do the same, a report released Thursday stated.
Based on information from the US Department of Labor, the Trump Organization sought to bring in at least 184 foreign workers in 2025 for short-term roles at the US president’s Florida property, two golf clubs and his winery in Virginia.
The quantity of requests for H-2A and H-2B visas covering staff including waitstaff, clerks, cleaning staff, kitchen staff and agricultural laborers was the record filed 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 bring in more than 100 overseas workers for seasonal jobs at Mar-a-Lago, based on available data.
The disclosure coincides with a tightening on immigration laws by his government that has involved the introduction of a $100,000 fee on H1-B visas; increased review of the activities of the millions of people who already hold American work permits; and tighter regulations for international scholars and journalists.
Overall, the business sought to employ 566 foreign laborers over the period Trump has been in the White House, from 2017 to 2021 and during 2025.
Notably, the former president was questioned by certain in the GOP this week for comments defending the necessity for foreign workers when a company was unable to find people with “specific talents” to occupy certain positions.
“You cannot just say a country is entering, going to invest billions to build a plant, and going to take people off an jobless roster who haven’t worked in five years, and they’re going to start producing their defense systems. It doesn’t work that effectively,” he told a interviewer after it was implied that foreign workers lower the wages of US workers.
The administration declined a inquiry for response, and the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to an inquiry.
