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The former president’s family business increased its recruitment of foreign workers on temporary visas this year, even as his government was creating barriers for other businesses wanting to do the identical, a report published recently claimed.

According to data from the federal labor department, the business sought to hire at least 184 overseas employees in 2025 for short-term roles at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort, golf facilities and his winery in Virginia.

The number of requests for H-2A and H-2B visas covering staff including servers, office assistants, cleaning staff, kitchen staff and agricultural laborers was the record filed by the company, and increased from 121 in the previous term, when his presidency ended.

It was also the fifth time in a decade that Trump had attempted to hire more than 100 foreign employees for temporary positions at his Florida resort, based on available data.

The revelation comes amid a tightening on legal immigration by his government that has involved the introduction of a $100,000 fee on H1-B visas; increased review of the activities of the 55 million people who possess American work permits; and restrictive new rules for foreign students and journalists.

In total, the business sought to hire 566 overseas workers over the five years Trump has been in the White House, from 2017 to 2021 and during 2025.

Notably, the former president was criticized by some in the Republican party this period for remarks defending the necessity for overseas employees when a business was unable to find people with “specific talents” to fill certain positions.

“You can’t just say a nation is coming in, going to spend billions to construct a plant, and going to recruit individuals off an unemployment line who haven’t worked in years, and they’re going to start making their defense systems. It doesn’t work that effectively,” he told a host after she suggested that foreign workers undercut the pay of US workers.

The White House refused a inquiry for response, and the business did not immediately respond to an request for information.