Trump goes soft on H-1B visas? He admits America ‘doesn't have plenty of talent, we have to bring in people’

US President Donald Trump seemed to defend H-1B visa holders when he said in an interview on Tuesday, "We have to bring in talent". He added that the United States "does not have plenty of talent".

"You can’t take people off the unemployment line and say, ‘go make missiles,'" Trump said in an interview with Fox News.

During the one-on-one interview, Trump was asked, "If you want to raise wages for Americans, you can’t flood the country with thousands of foreign workers.”

The president reacted, saying, "I agree, but we also do have to bring in talent."

When the interviewer insisted, "We have plenty of talent," Trump disagreed: "No, we don't...You don't have certain talents, and people have to learn."

"You can’t take people off the unemployment line and say, ‘go make missiles,’” Trump said.

‘I like competent people coming to US’

In January, Donald Trump said he liked both sides of the argument on the H-1B foreign guest worker visa, noting that the country needs "very competent" and "great" people, which is possible through this visa programme.

“I like both sides of the argument, but I also like very competent people coming into our country, even if that involves them training and helping other people that may not have the qualifications they do. I don't want to stop…,” Trump was quoted by PTI as saying during an event with Oracle CTO Larry Ellison, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Trump added that he had also used the H-1B visa programme. "We want competent people coming into our country. And H-1B, I know the programme very well. I use the programme. Maître d', wine experts, even waiters, high-quality waiters, you've got to get the best people. People like Larry, he needs engineers, NASA also needs... engineers like nobody's ever needed them," Trump said.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies rely on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries, particularly from India and China.

Trump's $100,000 fee on H-1B visas

In September, the Trump administration slapped a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas. The move stunned and confused employers, students and workers from the United States to India and beyond.

The application fee was earlier $215, plus other relatively nominal processing charges. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the fee would be applied annually, totalling $600,000 over the maximum number of renewals allowed. The White House later clarified that it was a one-time fee and would not apply to current visa holders.

Trump also rolled out a $1 million “gold card” visa for wealthy individuals.

These moves are certain to draw lawsuits alleging that the president improperly sidestepped Congress with a dramatic overhaul of the legal immigration system.

(With inputs from agencies)