The Trump Organization looked to bring in nearly 200 foreign workers on visas this year to staff its golf clubs and businesses — the highest total to date, according to figures from the Department of Labor.
This year, the company sought to hire 184 foreign workers for temporary positions at the family’s Mar-a-Lago resort, two golf clubs and a winery in Virginia through H-2A and H-2B visas, Forbes first reported.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s administration has embarked upon what it claims is the biggest deportation operation in recent history.
The visas requested by the Trump Organization are for foreign workers taking on agricultural work of a temporary or seasonal nature.
Waiters, cooks, bartenders, housekeepers and kitchen staff paid between $15.58 and $27.91 an hour were among the positions sought by the company.
Visa requests made by the company have been on the rise since 2021, when the Trump Organization looked to hire 121 workers, according to the data.
The data did not reveal the nationalities of the foreign workers but citizens from 90 countries are eligible to apply.
Forbes estimates Trump’s worth is about $6.5 billion today, but noted most of his wealth stems from his family’s cryptocurrency ventures rather than real estate.
The Independent has contacted the Trump Organization for comment.
The request comes as Trump was this week forced to defend his position on hiring foreign workers after being grilled by Fox News’ Laura Ingraham. Trump was specifically defending H-1B visas, which are typically granted to those working in tech and engineering.
Ingraham pressed Trump that there were “talented people” in America that companies could hire instead of bringing in workers from overseas.
“No you don’t,” he replied. “You don’t have certain talents, and people have to learn. You can’t take people off an unemployment line and say, ‘I’m going to put you into a factory and we’re going to make missiles.’”
The remarks have enraged MAGA supporters online who saw the president’s stance as a betrayal of his “America First” agenda to prioritize U.S. workers.
MAGA firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has been giving the Trump administration a headache after she broke ranks with the GOP over the Jeffrey Epstein case, has been vocal in her opposition to Trump’s position on H-1B visas.
“I am solidly against you being replaced by foreign labor, like with H1Bs,” she told supporters on X.
Trump received backlash in September when he raised H-1B visa fees to $100,000 in a bid to encourage companies to hire Americans instead.
