Trump emphasizes U.S. need for skilled foreign workers despite criticism from MAGA base
Published: 20 Nov. 2025, 10:36
Updated: 20 Nov. 2025, 13:41
![U.S. President Donald Trump applauds at the ″Winning the AI Race″ Summit in Washington on July 23. [REUTERS/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/20/b32e6913-8eca-4534-a921-0d6d8d9419fa.jpg)
U.S. President Donald Trump applauds at the ″Winning the AI Race″ Summit in Washington on July 23. [REUTERS/YONHAP]
Despite backlash from his hard-line base, U.S. President Donald Trump has reaffirmed the need for skilled foreign workers to help rebuild the U.S. manufacturing sector.
Speaking at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington on Wednesday, Trump said his policies were attracting foreign investors to build factories in the United States — and that those investors must be allowed to bring in skilled labor from abroad to train U.S. workers.
Trump has supported the entry of skilled foreign workers following a high-profile immigration enforcement incident in September when U.S. authorities detained over 300 Korean workers at a battery plant construction site in Georgia.
Since then, Trump has argued that foreign specialists are needed to transfer technical expertise to workers in the United States. However, this stance has drawn criticism from the "Make America Great Again," or "MAGA," base that has supported Trump in part due to his hard-line immigration policies.
Many MAGA supporters believe foreign workers threaten U.S. jobs and have opposed expanding visa programs.
In his speech, Trump referenced the Georgia incident and said, “I said, ‘Stop it. Don’t be stupid.’ And we worked it out, and now they are teaching our people how to do it.”
He also pointed to Taiwan-based TSMC’s semiconductor plant under construction in Arizona, noting that foreign specialists are needed and that they are “welcome.”
“I love my conservative friends. I love MAGA,” he continued. “But this is MAGA. Those people are going to teach our people how to make computer chips, and in a short period of time, our people are going to be doing great. And those people can go home.”
Trump appeared to frame the policy as a temporary measure to quell criticism from his base, emphasizing that foreign workers would leave after transferring their knowledge.
"I always take a little heat from my people, the people that love me and the people that I love,” he continued.
“They happen to be toward the right of center, toward the right. Sometimes they're way right. They're unbelievable patriots, but they just don't understand our people have to be taught," Trump said, referring to his allies.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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