White House Says Trump’s H-1B Stance ‘Misunderstood’, Focus Remains On American Workers

The White House on Tuesday attempted to contain criticism from US President Donald Trump’s own base over his recent defence of H-1B workers, saying his comments had been taken out of context and that he does

not support American workers being replaced by foreign talent.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered a detailed clarification after sections of the MAGA movement accused Trump of abandoning his “America First” stance. Leavitt said critics were amplifying selective clips and misreading what the President meant.

She was asked directly: “Is it MAGA to support American workers being replaced with H-1B visa holders? Are Americans not capable of filling most of these positions?”

Leavitt pushed back, saying Trump’s critics were twisting his words. “The president does not support American workers being replaced. You are mischaracterizing what the president said,” she responded.

According to Leavitt, Trump’s position is centred on foreign companies investing “trillions of dollars” inside the United States, particularly in advanced manufacturing. Such firms, she said, often need highly specialised workers to get complex facilities operational in the initial phase. “The president has a very nuanced and commonsense opinion on this issue,” she said. “He wants to see, at the beginning, foreign companies bring in their people to create very niche things like batteries and get those factories up and running.”

.@PressSec on H-1Bs: President Trump does NOT support American workers being replaced. He has a nuanced, commonsense approach — after those factories are up and running and workers are trained, these companies better be hiring American workers. pic.twitter.com/Qx4RyucZ9S

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 24, 2025

She added that Trump’s long-term goal was unchanged. “Ultimately, the president always wants to see American workers in those jobs,” she said. “And he’s told these foreign companies investing here, ‘You better be hiring my people if you’re going to be doing business in the United States’.”

Trump had attempted to explain the same argument at the US-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington earlier this month, where he acknowledged the backlash from his supporters. “They just don’t understand,” he said, stressing that large-scale high-tech projects cannot be launched without trained experts.

“People have to be taught,” Trump said. “If we don’t have people that did that before, we are allowing you. You can’t open a massive computer chip factory and think you’re going to hire people off the unemployment line to run it. They’re going to have to bring thousands of people, and I am going to welcome those people.”

Leavitt said this approach fits into Trump’s broader economic agenda, pointing to tariff policies and trade deals that the White House says have drawn “trillions and trillions of dollars” in investment and created “good-paying American jobs right here at home.” She highlighted that the use of foreign specialists is temporary and meant to train Americans as these industries grow.