Who could have predicted that Walmart — the global retail giant often viewed as a symbol of corporate globalization — would become an unlikely testament to the effectiveness of President Donald Trump’s economic policies?
According to Bloomberg, Walmart has suspended all job offers to candidates requiring H-1B visas after the Trump administration’s newly implemented rules imposed a $100,000 fee per visa last month.
With 2,390 H-1B visa holders already employed, Walmart faced an estimated $240 million in potential costs had it continued hiring foreign workers under the revised regulations.
“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 spokesperson said in a statement to Bloomberg.
The Trump administration has long argued that the H-1B visa program has been exploited by corporations seeking to import cheaper foreign labor, often at the expense of American workers.
In Walmart’s case, however, the affected roles are not entry-level or low-wage positions but corporate jobs — making the administration’s push for domestic hiring even more impactful.
For supporters of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, this development represents a victory on multiple fronts. Each halted H-1B hire translates into an opportunity for an American worker to fill a well-paid position.
The irony is not lost on political observers. Walmart, once mocked by Washington elites and Trump critics alike, now finds itself inadvertently validating Trump’s America-first economic agenda.
The episode also calls to mind a 2016 text message exchange between disgraced former FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, in which Strzok derisively wrote, “Just went to a Southern Virginia Walmart. I could smell the Trump support,” Newsweek reported.
Yet, years later, Walmart’s actions appear to align more closely with the economic vision of those very voters Strzok disparaged.
Even Walmart’s leadership has acknowledged the benefits of Trump-era trade and manufacturing policies. During a recent appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America, host George Stephanopoulos attempted to draw anti-Trump remarks from Walmart CEO John Furner. Instead, Furner praised the results of Trump’s tariff policies, noting, “About two-thirds of what we sell is either made, grown, or assembled here in the United States.”
Those tariffs encouraged Walmart to prioritize American-made products — and now, Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee has further incentivized the company to look inward for talent.
In both cases, the outcomes point to a common conclusion: Trump’s economic strategy is working exactly as designed. And the biggest beneficiaries, fittingly enough, may be the very “Walmart shoppers” his opponents once ridiculed.