Will accept skilled immigrants, ready to take ‘heat’ for it: Trump

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said he will “welcome” to the US skilled immigrants who will “teach” American workers to develop complex products like chips and missiles, noting he may take a “little heat” from his base which supports immigration restrictions.

Addressing the US-Saudi Investment Forum on Wednesday, Trump said a large number of plants, including “extremely complex” ones, are being built in the US that will contribute to the country’s economic growth.

He added that given the complex nature of products that will be manufactured in these plants, like telephones, computers, and missiles, companies will have to bring in skilled workers from abroad who can share their knowledge and teach American workers.

“And I may take a little heat. I always take a little heat from my people, the people that love me and the people that I love, they happen to be toward the right of centre, sometimes they are way right,” Trump said at the event that was attended by visiting Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman.

The US President said that

Companies have to bring people to get their plants opened, we want those people to teach our people how to make computer chips...They’re going to have to bring thousands of people, and I’m going to welcome those people — Donald Trump, US President

companies have to bring people to “get those plants opened, we want you to do that, and we want those people to teach our people how to make computer chips and how to make other things.”

“...They’re going to have to bring thousands of people with them, and I’m going to welcome those people,” he said.

Trump said that the people against this are “really, really smart” and “unbelievable patriots”, but he said they don’t understand that the American people have to be taught.

“This is something they’ve never done, and we’re not going to be successful if we don’t allow people that invest billions of dollars in plants and equipment to bring a lot of their people from their country to get that plant open, operating and working. I’m sorry,” Trump said amid applause from the audience.

“So my poll numbers just went down, but with smart people, they’ve gone way up. They’ve gone way up. And I mean that.”

Trump added said that he loves his conservative friends, “I love MAGA, but this is MAGA,” referring to his political ideology of ‘Make America Great Again’.

“So for those of you that are doing the plants, you’re going to have all the help you need, and you’re going to do a great job, and you’re going to teach our people how to do it, and our people are going to be just as good as your people ever were in not such a long period of time,” Trump said.