Eliyahu Gasson | opinions editor

Something funny happened over the holidays. Tesla CEO and self-ordained “first buddy” to President-Elect Donald Trump, got into a fight with anti-immigrant right wing activists on his social media website, X, losing favor with the far-right online, but confirming support from Trump himself.

The quarreling started in late December. Right wing activist and Trump ally Laura Loomer made a post on X that criticized the appointment of Indian-American venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan to the Trump cabinet as an artificial intelligence advisor. She complained that the appointment was “not America First policy” and accused tech executives aligned with Trump of only doing so to enrich themselves. She was joined by other right wing posters, who made references to the great replacement theory, a conspiracy theory that “elites” (often Jews) plan to make white people a minority in the U.S. by increasing the number of non-white immigrants.

They then went on to attack the H-1B visa program, which allows companies to hire foreign-born in specialty occupations, and is often used by tech companies who are hiring. They also started making racist posts against Indians, who make up around 74% of H-1B visa recipients.

Former PayPal executive David Sacks jumped into the conversation, followed by Vivek Ramaswamy and Musk, both of whom are set to co-chair the proposed Department of Government Efficiency. They led posters in a defensive campaign for the H-1B visa program, arguing that tech companies need to hire foreign-born workers.

“… there is a dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America. This is not about handing out opportunities from some magical hat. You don’t get it. This is blindingly obvious when looking at NBA teams, as the physical differences are so obvious to see,” Musk posted on Christmas Day.

The Musk-Trump relationship appeared strong on the New Year. Musk celebrated 2025 at Mar-a-Lago with the rest of Trump’s inner circle. His mother, Maye Musk, posted photos on X showing that he got to sit next to Trump at the big table.

Loomer, who has also been photographed with Trump, sparking debate on her influence on his campaign, seems to be on a crusade to reclaim the seat next to Trump. However, it looks like Trump prefers the support of the billionaires in his cabinet over the approval of vehement racist posters.

Trump sided fully with the pro-H-1B camp in an interview with the New York Post published on Dec. 28.

“I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’m a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program,” he said.

What’ll make it even harder for the anti-H-1B visa camp is that industry leaders are showing support for the incoming Trump administration. Trump’s proposed cabinet is the richest in modern history, with 13 billionaires slated for positions in his administration, including tech entrepreneurs, real estate moguls and bankers, all of whom benefit from the H-1B program.

Furthermore, Silicone Valley tech companies, who have been criticized by the Trump camp of harboring anti-conservative biases and censoring right wing voices online, have started showing more support for the president-elect.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday that the company would stop partnering with third-party fact-checking companies on their social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and Threads. He explained the decision in a video, parroting talking points from people in the MAGA-verse.

“But the fact-checkers have been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they’ve created, especially in the U.S.,” Zuckerberg said.

Leaving aside the likelihood that Meta’s platforms risk becoming as unhinged as X did after Musk’s acquisition of it, the company’s embrace of right wing talking points is a sign that more powerful companies are going to try to gain favor with Trump. Over time, they should get a greater say in his administration’s policies, making less room for the Loomers on the right.

That isn’t to say large companies and industry leaders are courting favor with Trump for altruistic reasons. They’re kowtowing to him in order to protect their own interests. But a nice by-product of their support is that Trump might be a little more hesitant to go after H-1B visa holders, protecting at least some immigration into this country. I am also not saying that an executive branch full of billionaires will be good for the country either, because it probably isn’t, but if you were looking for some silver lining to the chaos surrounding the incumbent administration, it’s that things may not be as bad for some immigrants as it will be for others.

The Laken Riley Act has passed the House of Representatives and might just get through the Senate as more Democrats show support for the bill by the day. The bill, if passed, would require the Department of Homeland Security to detain a broad swath of immigrants, including those permitted to seek asylum in the U.S., if they have been accused of burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting — effectively denying certain immigrants due process.

So while it’s nice that the interests of billionaires protects some immigrants from MAGA policies, the case of the Laken Riley Act also shows that you can’t always rely on the ultra-rich to do right by you, but sometimes what they want is better than the alternative.