What many observers mistook for a softening of Donald Trump’s immigration policy has been clarified as a strategic pivot. After Trump remarked in an interview that the US needs to “bring talent into the country” and that Americans lack “certain talents,” speculation grew about an expansion of the H-1B visa program. He argued that you can’t just place long-term unemployed individuals into technical jobs without training.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, however, has explained that the training will come from foreign workers, not be for them. He characterized the new policy as a “knowledge transfer” system. The idea is not to hire skilled immigrants to replace Americans, but to have them come temporarily to train Americans, and then leave.
Bessent provided a clear summary of the policy: “Come to US, train American workers, go home.” He suggested a finite timeframe for these experts, such as “three, five, seven years,” during which they would be tasked with upskilling their US counterparts. Once that mission is complete, their stay in the US would end, and “US workers will fully take over.”
This strategy stems from a direct acknowledgment of a skills gap in the domestic workforce. Bessent was frank, stating, “An American can’t have that job, not yet.” He cited industries like shipbuilding and semiconductors, where the US has lost its manufacturing base and, consequently, its base of expertise. These foreign workers are needed as temporary “teachers.”
Bessent called this plan a “home run.” It addresses the immediate need for expertise in critical defense and manufacturing sectors without creating long-term competition for American jobs. The model of “overseas partners coming in, teaching American workers, then returning home” is being presented as the ultimate “America First” solution to a complex economic problem.