In a development that underscores the real-world impact of President Donald Trump’s economic policies, Walmart has announced it is suspending all job offers that would require H-1B visas under recently updated federal rules. Bloomberg reports the move affects the retail giant’s substantial corporate workforce, which currently includes 2,390 H-1B visa holders.
Under the Trump administration’s new guidelines, each H-1B hire would require the company to pay a $100,000 fee, meaning Walmart could have faced nearly $240 million in additional costs had it proceeded with these foreign hires. “Walmart is committed to hiring and investing in the best talent to serve our customers, while remaining thoughtful about our H-1B hiring approach,” a company spokeswoman told Bloomberg, highlighting the careful recalibration of its employment strategy.
The fee changes, championed by the Trump administration, are designed to curb the widespread abuse of the H-1B system, which critics argue allows employers to import cheaper foreign labor at the expense of domestic workers. While many companies rely on H-1B workers for cost savings, Walmart’s freeze shows the broader impact on high-level corporate positions, where salaries are substantial.
From the perspective of Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, the suspension represents a win for American labor. By pausing these hires, Walmart effectively redirects opportunities to U.S.-based employees, creating high-paying positions that might otherwise have gone to foreign workers.
The irony of Walmart serving as a real-world example of Trump’s economic policies is not lost on observers. In 2016, former FBI agent Peter Strzok infamously mocked Walmart shoppers as emblematic of Trump support, texting, “Just went to a Southern Virginia Walmart. I could smell the Trump support,” to his then-colleague Lisa Page, per Newsweek. Today, Walmart’s corporate decisions reflect the very policies that MAGA advocates have long praised.
Walmart CEO John Furner recently confirmed on ABC’s Good Morning America that roughly two-thirds of the company’s merchandise is produced, grown, or assembled in the United States, a figure that validates the success of Trump’s tariffs in incentivizing domestic production. Similarly, the $100,000 H-1B visa fee has nudged the company to pause foreign hiring, further aligning corporate practices with the administration’s economic agenda.
The cumulative effect is clear: Trump’s policies are reshaping hiring incentives and domestic production priorities in one of America’s largest retailers, turning long-standing debates over trade and immigration into tangible outcomes for American workers. For those who once mocked the president’s supporters in the aisles of Walmart, the policy outcomes now provide a striking counterpoint.
American workers, it seems, are positioned to benefit from a corporate recalibration that emphasizes domestic employment and high-paying roles—proof, to MAGA advocates, that Trump’s economic playbook is yielding measurable results.