Trump's Organization Attempted to Bring In Nearly 200 Employees on Work Permits in 2025
Donald Trump’s family business accelerated its recruitment of overseas employees on temporary visas this year, even as his government was creating barriers for other businesses wanting to do the same, an analysis released Thursday claimed.
According to information from the federal labor department, the Trump Organization aimed to hire at least nearly 200 foreign workers in the coming year for short-term roles at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort, golf facilities and his winery in Virginia.
The quantity of applications for temporary work visas covering staff including waitstaff, office assistants, cleaning staff, kitchen staff and agricultural laborers was the highest ever filed by the organization, and increased from 121 in the previous term, when Trump’s first term ended.
It was also the fifth instance in a decade that Trump had sought to bring in more than 100 foreign employees for seasonal jobs at his Florida resort, according to available data.
The revelation coincides with a tightening on immigration laws by his government that has included the introduction of a $100,000 fee on skilled worker visas; extra scrutiny of the actions of the 55 million people who possess American work permits; and tighter regulations for international scholars and reporters.
In total, the Trump Organization sought to hire 566 overseas workers over the five years the former president has been in the presidency, from his first term and during 2025.
Significantly, the former president was questioned by certain in the Republican party this period for remarks defending the need for overseas employees when a business was unable to find people with “specific talents” to occupy particular roles.
“You can’t just say a nation is entering, going to invest $10bn to build a facility, and going to take people off an unemployment line who haven’t worked in five years, and they’re going to start producing their defense systems. It doesn’t work that well,” he told a host after she suggested that overseas employees lower the wages of US workers.
The White House refused a request for comment, and the business did not provide an answer to an inquiry.