WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has made tough immigration policies his calling card but acknowledged Wednesday that he has been criticized by his Make America Great Again supporters for recent statements that some skilled immigrants should be allowed into the country.
Trump told an audience of business leaders that the United States needs immigrants who can train domestic workers in high-tech factories, and insisted that this does not conflict with his core political beliefs.
“I love my conservative friends. I love MAGA. But this is MAGA,” Trump said during a speech at the US-Saudi Investment Forum, which he attended with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “These people are going to teach our people how to make computer chips, and in a short period of time, our people will be fine. And these people will be able to go home.”
The comments drew applause from the audience. But last week, Trump clashed with Fox News host Laura Ingraham over the same issue. During an interview with Trump, Ingraham suggested that “you can't flood the country with tens or hundreds of thousands of foreign workers,” only for the president to respond, “You also need to attract talent.”
When Ingraham said the United States has “a lot of talented people here,” Trump responded, “No, that's not true,” and added that “people have to learn.”
The exchange drew sharp online criticism from some in the MAGA movement, who oppose the expansion of H-1B visas and other programs aimed at bringing skilled immigrants into the country.
That didn't stop Trump from doubling down on Wednesday, adding that his detractors are “very, very smart” despite their opposition to skilled immigration. “They are incredible patriots,” Trump said. “But they just don’t understand that our people need to be taught.”
Trump said that when it comes to the “extremely complex” domestic factories that make things like computers, cell phones and missiles, it is impossible to “think that you can hire people off the unemployment line to run them.”
Foreign owners building factories in the U.S. “will have to bring thousands of people with them, and I will welcome those people,” Trump said.
As evidence, the president pointed to the case of hundreds of South Koreans who were detained and fled the United States following a September immigration raid at a Hyundai electric vehicle plant in Georgia. Some have already returned and returned to their jobs.
Trump said the workers were told to “go away,” but “I said, ‘Stop it. Don't be foolish.”
