The incoming Trump administration recently announced a Tech Summit, where some of the biggest giants in Silicon Valley and others were invited to a big soiree. The event was held last Wednesday and as expected, it had a strained atmosphere. The majority of tech industry leaders fought hard to avoid a Trump victory last election due to some of his policies. As such, despite the president-elect’s assurance that he and his administration are actually going to help the tech industry, the Silicon Valley billionaires are already gearing up for a fight.
One of the biggest concerns that tech companies have with regards to a Trump administration is the matter of immigration, The Washington Post reports. Both established and growing entities in Silicon Valley are highly dependent on skilled immigrants who can contribute to the trend of innovation and advancements.
With Trump’s anti-immigration stance, it’s not surprising that tech leaders would be worried about him impeding progress. This puts companies like Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, and others on the defensive. During the four years of Trump sitting as POTUS, even keeping the current visa requirements could prove extremely difficult. Trump’s assertions that current visa policies help foreigners steal jobs from “real Americans” has had an unnerving effect on the industry as a whole.
For his part, Trump tried to calm the clear anxiety felt by the dozen or so billionaires that he met with on Trump tower by telling them that he wants to help the industry, The Hill reports. Then again, with the president-elect’s record of not following through on his word, it wouldn’t be surprising if his assurance had the opposite effect.
“We want you to keep going with the incredible innovation. Anything we can do to help this go on, we will be there for you,” Trump told the nervous crowd of tech leaders. “You’ll call my people, you’ll call me. We have no formal chain of command around here.”