Trump praises Satya Nadella after Microsoft suspended from green card programme

Hours before Donald Trump honoured Satya Nadella, JD Vance suspended Microsoft's green card programme for H-1B workers. The split-screen moment exposed the administration's clash between celebrating immigrant-led innovation and tightening skilled immigration.

In Short

• Vance linked the action to an administration fraud task force review
• He accused the company of replacing laid-off Americans with visa holders
• Five of six science and technology medal recipients are immigrants

On a day when Microsoft was being put under scrutiny over its immigration practices, its chief executive Satya Nadella was being celebrated at the White House for helping drive America's technology boom.

US President Donald Trump presented Nadella with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation during the "A New Golden Age" summit at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC. Trump praised Nadella's more than three decades at Microsoft and credited him with helping transform the company and its technology.

But just hours before the ceremony, Vice President JD Vance announced that Microsoft was being suspended from a key government programme that allows skilled foreign workers on H-1B visas to pursue green cards and permanent residency in the US.

The striking timing brought two very different sides of the Trump administration's technology policy into focus. While Trump has embraced some of the world's most prominent technology executives as drivers of artificial intelligence and economic growth, his administration has simultaneously intensified its scrutiny of immigration programmes used by technology companies.

TRUMP PRAISES NADELLA'S MICROSOFT JOURNEY

In his remarks, Trump highlighted Nadella's more than three decades at Microsoft and credited him with helping reshape the company. Before becoming CEO in 2014, Nadella led several parts of Microsoft's business, including business services, research and development and its cloud computing operations. The cloud platform became a foundation for products and services used by billions of people worldwide.

Trump also pointed to Nadella's role in pushing Microsoft towards artificial intelligence and what he described as "super intelligence".

"Satya, we are honored to give you the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. It is so well deserved congratulations," Trump said.

Nadella was not the only technology leader being honoured at the White House. Trump also presented the National Medal of Science to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su.

Five of the six technology executives being honoured are immigrants. Musk was born in South Africa, Brin in Russia, while Huang and Su were born in Taiwan. Nadella immigrated to the United States from India.

Trump was also presenting the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell, who was born in Texas.

US SUSPENDS MICROSOFT FROM GREEN CARD PROGRAMME

The celebratory mood around Nadella's award was sharply contrasted by Vance's announcement that Microsoft had been suspended from the green card programme. Horus earlier, at a news conference, Vance accused the company of misusing the H-1B visa system and said the move was part of his work leading a fraud task force.

"Our message to Microsoft is: You're a great American company, but you've got to hire great American workers," Vance said. He went further, accusing Microsoft of laying off American workers while relying on foreign employees.

"You cannot lay off American workers and then replace them with foreign indentured servants," Vance said. He said Microsoft laid off 6,000 US workers last year while obtaining 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards.

Microsoft, which is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, employs about 223,000 people worldwide. The company has not accepted the administration's characterisation of its workforce practices.

MICROSOFT PUSHES BACK ON H-1B CLAIMS

Microsoft said the vast majority of its US workforce consists of American workers and that its H-1B filings do not represent a mass effort to bring new workers into the country.

"We believe in the strength and talent of the American workforce. That is why the vast majority of Microsoft employees in the United States are Americans," the company said in a statement.

Microsoft said it had submitted about 6,000 H-1B visa applications during the last fiscal year. But it said 80 per cent of those applications were to extend or change the status of existing employees rather than bring in new workers.

"These were not to hire new people," Microsoft said.

The company said the remaining applications for new employees involved people who were already legally in the US and chose to join Microsoft.

"They are not new arrivals to our country," the company said.

Microsoft also defended its pay practices, saying it files H-1B petitions only for workers who meet the requirements of the visa programme.

"We pay our employees some of the highest compensation in the tech sector, and our wages are among the highest of all H-1B filings," the company said. It added that H-1B employees receive the same pay as other employees performing comparable work.

IMMIGRANTS AT CENTRE OF TRUMP'S TECH PUSH

The tension surrounding Nadella's award extended beyond Microsoft.

The White House has increasingly relied on leading technology executives to promote its AI agenda. Musk, Huang and Su attended a state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping, while Brin, Nadella and Dell were also present.

Dell met Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday to discuss Trump's child investment programme, known as Trump Accounts.

Last week, Huang and Musk were among technology leaders who visited the White House to sign a voluntary agreement on AI development following concerns over the national security and safety implications of increasingly powerful models.

Trump has repeatedly argued that the US must maintain its lead in artificial intelligence. He has praised rapid development and opposed restrictions that he believes could slow economic growth.

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