Trump's Business Sought to Bring In Almost 200 Workers on Visas in 2025
Donald Trump’s family business accelerated its hiring of overseas employees on short-term work permits this year, while his administration was creating barriers for other businesses wanting to do the same, a report published recently claimed.
Based on information from the federal labor department, the business aimed to hire at least 184 foreign workers in the coming year for temporary positions at the former president’s Florida property, two golf clubs and his winery in Virginia.
The number of applications for temporary work visas for staff including waitstaff, clerks, cleaning staff, culinary employees and farm workers was the highest ever filed by the organization, and increased from over 120 in 2021, when Trump’s first term ended.
It was also the fifth time in 10 years that Trump had attempted to bring in over a hundred foreign employees 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 included the introduction of a $100,000 fee on skilled worker visas; increased review of the actions of the 55 million people who possess American work permits; and tighter regulations for foreign students and reporters.
Overall, the Trump Organization aimed to employ over 560 overseas workers over the five years Trump has been in the White House, from 2017 to 2021 and during 2025.
Notably, Trump was questioned by certain in the Republican party this week for comments defending the necessity for foreign workers when a business was unable to find people with “specific talents” to occupy particular roles.
“You cannot just say a country is entering, going to invest billions to construct a facility, and going to take people off an jobless roster who have been unemployed in years, and they’re going to start producing their missiles. It isn’t feasible that effectively,” he stated to a interviewer after it was implied that overseas employees lower the wages of US workers.
The administration declined a request for response, and the Trump Organization did not provide an answer to an inquiry.