Trump Praises Microsoft CEO as H-1B Visa Program Faces Cuts

WHO:

ABC News - President Trump, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Vice President JD Vance, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, AMD CEO Lisa Su, Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell.

ABC News - Five of the six tech leaders honored by Trump are immigrants.

WHAT:

ABC News - Trump celebrated tech billionaires for their contributions to America.

ABC News - Microsoft was suspended from a program allowing companies to apply for green cards for skilled foreign workers with H-1B visas.

ABC News - Microsoft obtained 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards while laying off 6,000 U.S. workers last year.

ABC News - Trump awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Satya Nadella and the National Medal of Science to Elon Musk, Sergey Brin, Jensen Huang, and Lisa Su.

ABC News - Trump referred to the group of billionaires as “national treasures.”

WHERE:

ABC News - The event took place in Washington, D.C.

ABC News - Microsoft is based in Redmond, Washington.

WHEN:

ABC News - The ceremony took place on a Thursday.

ABC News - The National Medal of Science was established in 1959.

WHY:

ABC News - The suspension of the visa program was due to allegations of widespread abuse of the worker visa system by tech firms, including Microsoft.

ABC News - Vance stated that Microsoft had abused the visa system and emphasized the need to hire American workers.

HOW:

ABC News - The Trump administration announced the suspension of the immigration program for multiple tech firms.

ABC News - Vance indicated that several universities, including Stanford and MIT, should be investigated for visa fraud.

(UPDATED October 8, 2026 21:05 UTC)

In a ceremony held in Washington, D.C., President Trump honored several tech billionaires, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, for their significant contributions to America, referring to them as “national treasures.” Notably, five of the six tech leaders recognized by Trump are immigrants, even as Microsoft faces scrutiny for allegedly abusing the H-1B visa program, which has led to the suspension of the program for multiple tech firms. During the event, Trump awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Nadella and the National Medal of Science to Musk, Sergey Brin, Jensen Huang, and Lisa Su, amidst calls for investigations into visa fraud involving universities like Stanford and MIT.