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Donald Trump isn't in office yet, but his bizarre political alliance of anti-MAGA supporters and global billionaires is already beginning to unravel.
The final reason was the nomination of Sriram Krishnan to the position of Trump's senior advisor for artificial intelligence policy. Krishnan is an Indian-American with close ties to both Trump and Elon Musk (he helped facilitate Twitter's evolution into X). Krishnan, like Musk, wants to make it easier for skilled foreign workers to come to the United States on temporary H-1B visas.
While Silicon Valley relies on these visas because of the shortage of skilled tech workers in the United States, the MAGA crowd opposes them, not only because they give preference to foreign workers but also because they could drive down wages in tech in the United States. According to a 2020 study by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, 60 percent of H1-B visas at the 30 largest employers end up paying significantly less than the average local wage for certain jobs. It is not surprising that Trump's position on this matter has been volatile. While he now appears to support visas, in 2016 he called it a “cheap labor program.”
The rift sparked a viral online debate between Musk and Maga activist Laura Loomer, a self-proclaimed “proud Islamophobe” who wants to give H1-B jobs to American STEM students. “Our country was built by white Europeans. . . . “Not third world invaders from India,” she posted on X. “It is not racist against Indians to want the indigenous MAGA policies you voted for. “I voted to reduce H-1B visas, not extend them.”
Meanwhile, Musk defended the visas, writing: “The reason I'm in America with so many important people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that have made America strong is H1B. Take a big step back and fuck yourself in your face. I'll go to war over This is an issue that you cannot understand.
There are many lessons to be learned from all of this. But, as is often the case when dealing with anything Trump-related, one wishes the cast of characters she illustrates were a little less toxic.
Loomer's posts are xenophobic, but it's brave to stand up to Musk and raise an important issue: how to make sure American workers get the right support in the face of global competition. The fact that the country failed to do this in the manufacturing sector from the late 1980s onwards is one of the reasons America won Trump in the first place.
Musk, on the other hand, is an overly self-interested capitalist who has no compunction about using his power to intimidate people. Loomer claims she lost her X verification badge and ability to monetize posts after getting into an online fight with him.
But he is also absolutely right that America needs many more engineers. Moreover, the South African-born entrepreneur's success — like that of many in Silicon Valley and US executives — reflects what is arguably America's greatest strength: its openness to immigrants.
This fight is important because it reflects a fundamental rift in the Trump coalition that will continue to grow. MAGA fans and globalists disagree not only on immigration, but also on defence, employment and freedom of expression. This is a coalition whose most important interactions were the desire to overthrow the previous government. Now that they've done that, I think it's unlikely they'll get together on anything else.
There are two other things to say about the H1-B Dust. First, Democrats are already looking to stir up the divisions emerging in Trumpland. “The conflict between Le Maire and Musk represents a unique opportunity to build an alliance with disaffected factions of the Republican Party,” including those concerned about tech oligarchy and free speech, noted a memo written by a small group of lawyers, business people and academics, and circulated last week. workers' rights and national security. On the latter point, Musk's business ties in China and announced talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin have already raised concerns in the defense community.
The memorandum received positive reactions from some prominent officials and former officials from the left, in addition to academics, intellectuals and union consultants. Late last week, progressive Senator Bernie Sanders weighed in on the topic, accusing Musk of pushing H1-Bs to get “cheaper” workers, not smarter workers.
Watch this space carefully. The struggle between Republicans and Democrats for the working class will be the decisive political battle of the next four years and beyond.
Second, although I find myself surprised as I write this, Trump himself actually has a policy idea that could help boost the number of Americans qualified for good tech jobs. He has proposed creating a free online university called the American Academy, which would offer high-level courses and accept transfer credits from other colleges and universities, helping to combat rising tuition costs and student debt. The left-leaning Washington Monthly magazine recently praised the idea.
This type of online education, coupled with programs that graduate high school students with a two-year college degree, is an obvious way to quickly train more tech workers. My only warning – please put someone other than Musk or Loomer in charge.
