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The former president’s corporate entity increased its hiring of overseas employees on short-term work permits this year, even as his government was placing obstacles for other businesses wanting to do the same, a report released Thursday stated.

Based on information from the federal labor department, the business sought to bring in at least 184 foreign workers in the coming year for short-term roles at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort, two golf clubs and his Virginia winery.

The number of applications for H-2A and H-2B visas for staff including waitstaff, clerks, cleaning staff, culinary employees and farm workers was the highest ever filed by the company, and up from over 120 in 2021, when Trump’s first term concluded.

It was also the fifth time in 10 years that Trump had sought to bring in over a hundred foreign employees for seasonal jobs at Mar-a-Lago, based on available data.

The disclosure coincides with a crackdown on legal immigration by his administration that has involved the introduction of a $100,000 fee on skilled worker visas; increased review of the actions of the 55 million people who possess US visas; 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 presidency, from 2017 to 2021 and during 2025.

Notably, Trump was criticized by some in the GOP this period for remarks defending the need for foreign workers when a company was unable to find people with “specific talents” to occupy certain positions.

“You cannot just say a nation is entering, going to invest $10bn to build a plant, and going to take people off an jobless roster who haven’t worked in years, and they’re going to start producing their missiles. It doesn’t work that well,” he told a host after it was implied that overseas employees undercut the wages of US workers.

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