Donald Trump supports H-1B visa program backed by Elon Musk

President-elect Trump told The Post Saturday that he supports immigration visas for high-skilled workers, and appears to be siding with Elon Musk in the raging intra-MAGA debate over the issue.

“I have always liked visas, I have always been a supporter of visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump said by phone, referring to the H-1B program, which allows companies to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations.

“I have a lot of H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve believed in H-1B. I’ve used it many times. It’s a great program,” added Trump, who limited foreign worker visa access in his first administration and has previously been critical of the program.

Musk and other tech barons argued this week that the H-1B visa program is critical to ensuring that U.S. companies can find highly skilled labor that may not be readily available in the U.S. workforce and needs to be expanded.

MAGA hardliners want Trump to follow through on his promise to promote American workers and impose tighter restrictions on immigration.

Trump’s Saturday comments come a day after Musk vowed to go to “war” on the issue and told a jeering opponent to go “fk yourself.”

The flare-up happened after X-user Steven Mackey slammed the billionaire’s defense of the program by using the billionaire’s own words against him.

“Stop trying to optimize something that shouldn’t exist,” a line often used by Musk, Mackey wrote. “Let’s optimize H-1B,” he added sarcastically.

Musk shot back: “The reason I’m in America with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B.”

“Take a big step back and F–K YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue that you cannot possibly understand,” he added, writing a memorable line from the 2008 comedy “Tropic Thunder.”

The tech billionaire has been criticized by MAGA diehards including Laura Loomer and Ann Coulter — who say the H-1B visa program has been abused and needs to be severely curtailed.

And influential voices around Trump have also publicly begun to turn against Musk.

“Someone please notify ‘Child Protective Services’ – need to do a ‘wellness check’ on this toddler,” former White House adviser Steve Bannon mocked the X boss in a Saturday post to his account on gettr.

Musk said his passion for the issue stemmed from wanting America to remain competitive by attracting “the top ~0.1% of engineering talent,” which he said was crucial for “America to keep winning.”

Vivek Ramaswamy, who is slated to lead the Department of Government Efficiency with Musk, supported Musk and offered a critique of American society.

“American culture has honored mediocrity over excellence,” Ramaswamy wrote at X.