Awkward moment Trump is confronted by reporter over major policy U-turn: ‘You changed your position!’
President-elect Donald Trump denied changing his position on H-1B visas after the topic broke the MAGAverse in recent days.
Trump spoke to reporters on the red carpet as he and first lady Melania Trump arrived at his annual New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago.
The new commander in chief was asked why he changed his mind and publicly supported the H-1B visa program.
“I haven’t changed my mind,” Trump pushed back. “I’ve always felt that we should have the most competent people in our country.”
He added: ‘we need competent people, we need smart people coming to our country and we need a lot of people coming in, we will have jobs like we have never had before.’
“But sir, you have changed your position!” the journalist replied.
Trump ignored the reporter and decided to answer the question of whether he would attend President Jimmy Carter’s funeral instead.
The president-elect said he would attend.
President-elect Donald Trump (left) denied changing his position on H-1B visas after the topic broke the MAGAverse in recent days. He spoke to reporters as he arrived at Mar-a-Lago’s New Year’s Eve with Melania Trump (right)
The battle over H-1B visas divided the Magaverse, with Trump (right) siding with tech billionaire Elon Musk (left), whom he publicly asked to be at Tuesday night’s party. Musk did indeed arrive with his son X in tow
The battle for H-1B visas pits Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy — selected to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency — against traditional MAGA mainstays like Steve Bannon.
As tech industry insiders, Musk and Ramaswamy supported visas that bring in highly skilled workers, while Bannon and the MAGA right argued that those jobs should go to Americans first.
Trump ultimately sided with Musk and even posted publicly on Truth Social about his desire to see X owner at the New Year’s party.
‘Where are you? When are you coming to the ‘center of the universe,’ Mar-a-Lago,” Trump wrote. ‘We miss you and x! New Year’s Eve is going to be AMAZING!!!’
Elon did indeed come to the party and walked the red carpet with son X on his shoulders.
He was later seen standing next to the incoming president and first lady in the grand ballroom of Mar-a-Lago, watching Lara Trump, the president-elect’s daughter-in-law who co-chaired the Republican National Committee, perform Tom Petty’s “I Won’t back down.’
Bannon was apparently not at the party, as the former Trump White House chief strategist did not walk the red carpet.
During the argument, Bannon said of Musk, “We’re going to rip your face off.”
President-elect Donald Trump dismissed claims that he had changed his position on H1-B visas, answering a question about whether he would attend President Jimmy Carter’s funeral instead
Bannon also called Musk a “toddler” after the tech billionaire said of those opposed to the program: “Take a big step back and F*** yourself in the face.”
In the past, Trump has said negative things about the H-1B visa program, but he has also admitted to using those visas to hire some of his own workforce.
During a 2016 primary debate, Trump called the visas “very bad” and “unfair” for American workers — the point Bannon, Laura Loomer and others on the right of MAGA made in their feud with Musk and Ramaswamy.
“First of all, I think and know the H-1B very well. And it’s something that, honestly, I use and I shouldn’t use. We shouldn’t have that,” Trump said at the time.
“Secondly, I think it is very important to say: I am a businessman and I have to do what I have to do,” he added.
Once Trump came to power, Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” campaign directed Cabinet officials to propose reforms to the H-1B program to do more to protect American jobs.
In October 2020, a month before the 2020 presidential election, the Trump White House announced a plan to severely restrict H-1B visas in the future.
Trump lost the election a month later and was replaced by President Joe Biden in January.