Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Last week, while Americans were busy celebrating the holidays with their families, a contentious online rift emerged among the MAGA faithful after Donald Trump’s tech-world allies, led by billionaire Elon Musk, began pushing back on attacks on highly skilled foreign tech workers by the movement’s nativist wing. By the weekend, Trump himself had weighed in. Here, what’s happened — and who’s winning — so far.
What is this fight about, how did it start, and who is involved?
The conflict between some of the MAGA far right and the movement’s Department of Government Efficiency wing is over immigration, broadly, and increasing the number of highly skilled foreign tech workers being admitted to the U.S., more specifically. It all began shortly after President-elect Trump announced that he was appointing the India-born tech entrepreneur Sriram Krishnan as his senior policy adviser for artificial intelligence.
The next day, on December 23, far-right activist (and occasional Trump adviser) Laura Loomer attacked the “deeply disturbing” pick in an X post in which she referred to Krishnan and other Trump appointees as “career leftists” and called out Krishnan’s support for eliminating green-card nationality caps and removing limits on skilled immigration.
How will be [sic] control immigration in our country and promote America First innovation when Trump appointed this guy who wants to REMOVE all restrictions on green card caps in the United States so that foreign students (which makes up 78% of the employees in Silicon Valley) can come to the US and take jobs that should be given to American STEM students.
She also broadly implied that Trump’s tech-sector allies are fair-weather friends who don’t put America first. Soon after, Trump “AI and crypto czar” appointee David Sacks replied to Loomer and defended Krishnan, pointing out she had mischaracterized his views on green-card limits and that Krishnan believes the green-card program should be skills- and merit-based. Musk then replied to Sacks’s message with “Makes sense”:
Makes sense
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 24, 2024
Over the next several days, Musk and his allies, including fellow DOGE leader Vivek Ramaswamy and other tech-sector figures, continued to post on X about the need for highly skilled foreign workers and champion the H-1B program, which allows U.S. employers to temporarily hire noncitizens for highly skilled jobs. Loomer and other MAGA figures and allies, including Ann Coulter and Steve Bannon, responded with their own attacks. Even former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley entered the fray.
The infighting has gotten pretty nasty.
Loomer, who has never been one to shy away from outright racism, also launched attacks on Indian immigrants, calling them “third world invaders” while celebrating the “white Europeans” who she claimed built the country.
Musk called “hateful, unrepentant racists” within the GOP “contemptible fools” who “must be removed from the Republican Party, root and stem” or “they will absolutely be the downfall of the Republican Party.”
Responding to a sarcastic critical comment from another X user, Musk replied with a paraphrased movie rant: “Take a big step back and FUCK YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.”
The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B.
Take a big step back and FUCK YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 28, 2024
Bannon, posting on right-wing X competitor Gettr, screencapped Musk’s tweet and added, “Someone please notify ‘Child Protective Services’ — need to do a ‘wellness check’ on this toddler.”
Musk’s DOGE compatriot Ramaswamy also opened a new front in the conflict. In a long X post, he blamed American culture for the skills gap with with other countries, insisting that America “has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long” and that “a culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers.” He even cited the ’90s TV show Saved by the Bell as part of the problem. Ramaswamy’s broadside prompted pushback from other prominent MAGA members on X, including some who weren’t as invested in the visa debate.
Loomer and other conservatives have accused Musk of retaliating against their X accounts.
On December 27, Loomer complained that her X account had been temporarily suspended for a half-day and that her verification badge had been removed. She wasn’t the only MAGA Musk critic that happened to, per NBC News:
At least 14 conservative accounts said late Thursday or Friday that X had revoked their blue verification badge, cutting them off from a variety of premium features, including the ability to monetize their accounts through subscriptions and advertising revenue-sharing, according to a review conducted by NBC News. Some accounts said the number of those affected was far higher. The accounts were all still active Friday, but without access to monetization features; some of them said they worried about their ability to keep posting.
Musk did not directly respond to the allegations of censorship but offered a “reminder” that X accounts that have been frequently blocked or muted by “far more credible, verified subscriber accounts” would automatically have their reach limited. He also called Loomer an attention-seeking troll who should be ignored.
Why do Musk and other tech leaders support H-1B visas?
One reason is personal: Musk says he himself was once an H-1B visa–holder. Second, Musk’s companies, along with many other tech-sector companies, have long relied on skilled foreign workers they can hire through the H-1B-visa process. Tech companies have repeatedly lobbied for expanding the visa program and against efforts to demonize or restrict it.
Trump suggested he agreed with Musk about H-1B workers — but does he really?
As the infighting raged on over highly skilled immigrants, Trump eventually weighed in himself. During a phone interview with the New York Post, Trump seemed to back Musk:
I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them … I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program.
Trump has opposed H-1B visas in the past. He criticized the visas during his 2016 presidential campaign, and in the final year of his first administration, Trump ordered a ban of new visas for guest workers, including H-1B recipients. Though the order was presented as a temporary economic measure meant to protect American jobs during the pandemic, banning guest workers had been a longtime goal of Trump anti-immigration architect Stephen Miller.
Also, while Trump claimed that he was a frequent user of the H-1B-visa program, the New York Times points out that the Trump Organization has typically used H-2B and H-2A visas, which are for unskilled workers like gardeners and agricultural workers. Over the past few decades, Trump’s company has employed more than 1,000 workers under those two visa programs, according to the Times, and he has rarely used the H-1B program.
So who is winning this civil war so far?
Musk appears to be winning since Trump seemed to publicly back him over the benefits of the H-1B program. And as the owner of one of the world’s most influential social-media platforms, Musk, who also has a direct line to the president-elect’s ear, is undoubtedly more powerful than the vast majority of Trump’s other MAGA backers.
But can ‘President Musk’ protect the H-1B program from Trump 2.0?
That’s not clear yet. Opposition to immigration is a foundation of Trump’s presidential campaign and the MAGA movement, and highly skilled tech workers were not exempt from the first Trump administration’s hard-line anti-immigrant policies.
Musk says he’s willing to “go to war” over the issue, but it’s not clear what that would actually mean when the drafted executive orders start hitting the desk.
