President-elect says he has always liked H-1B visas, despite moving to restrict them in first term in office, as ‘America First’ rages against immigration

The world's wealthiest tycoon wants more visas for engineering talent, but conservatives including RFK Jr. vice-presidential pick are savaging the H-1B program as predatory.

Musk, the owner of car manufacturer Tesla and social media platform X, has been tapped by Trump to lead the proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, after vocally supporting and financially backing his campaign for president.

Elon Musk’s war on MAGA has quickly gone nuclear after the billionaire CEO blasted a social media user’s comments about HB1 visas Friday, and former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon called him a “toddler” for his response.

The conflict centers on Musk and Ramaswamy’s recent praise for foreign tech workers, beginning soon after Indian immigrant Sriram Krishnan joined the team of Trump’s AI and crypto czar David Sacks. It’s pitted Trump’s tech mogul donor class against his older network of far-right influencers like activist and Trump companion Laura Loomer while escalating into racist rhetoric against Indian Americans in particular.