Donald Trump has signed an order to raise fees for the H-1B visa to $100,000 in what could be a major blow to the US tech industry, which contributed millions to his presidential campaign.
The tech industry relies, more than any other sector of the US economy, on H-1B visa holders. Roughly two-thirds of jobs secured through the H-1B program are computer-related, government figures show, but employers also use the visa to bring in engineers, educators and healthcare workers.
Critics of the program, including many US technology workers, argue that it allows firms to suppress wages and sideline Americans who could do the jobs. Supporters, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, say it brings in highly skilled workers essential to filling talent gaps and keeping firms competitive. Musk, himself a naturalized US citizen born in South Africa, once held an H-1B visa.
Trump signs order imposing $100,000 annual fee on key visa group
The US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, told a press briefing that “all the big companies” had been briefed on the new fee. “A hundred-thousand dollars a year for H-1B visas, and all of the big companies are on board. We’ve spoken to them,” Lutnick said at an Oval Office event with the president.
“If you’re going to train somebody, you’re going to train one of the recent graduates from one of the great universities across our land. Train Americans. Stop bringing in people to take our jobs.”
Trump says Xi Jinping has agreed to approve TikTok deal, but details unclear
Donald Trump said on Friday that he and Xi Jinping had agreed to approve a deal over TikTok.
“He approved the TikTok deal,” Trump said about Xi, suggesting the leaders signed off on a preliminary agreement. But Trump offered no details about the agreement or when it would be signed.
The American and Chinese leaders had connected over a phone call earlier in the day, the first direct contact between the two leaders since June. China and the US have been at loggerheads over trade negotiations and the future of TikTok, a Chinese-owned social media platform that faces a ban in the US.
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Judge strikes down Trump’s $15bn lawsuit against the New York Times
A federal judge tossed Donald Trump’s $15bn defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, book publisher Penguin and two Times reporters, and said the suit was filled with “vituperation and invective” and violated civil procedure in federal cases for failing to get to the point.
US district court judge Steven Merryday in Florida will allow the president to refile and amend the action within 28 days, however.
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Democrats reject spending bill over healthcare cuts as shutdown looms
The US federal government drew closer to a shutdown on Friday, after Democrats made good on their vow not to support a Republican-backed measure that would extend funding for another two months because it did not include provisions to protect healthcare programs.
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US attorney tasked with inquiring into Trump critics resigns
The federal prosecutor for the eastern district of Virginia resigned Friday under intense pressure from Donald Trump, after his office determined there wasn’t sufficient evidence to charge New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, a political rival of the president, with a crime.
Democrats divided over US House resolution to honor Charlie Kirk
The killing of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk has triggered a wave of political disquiet in Washington, with some House Democrats fearing a messaging trap over a Republican resolution to honor him while other lawmakers worry about the broader political temperature following government pressure on broadcasters.
Democrats ultimately decided to side with the Republicans to pass the resolution, with 95 Democrats in support. Fifty-eight Democrats opposed it, 38 voted present and 22 did not vote.
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Ted Cruz compares threats to ABC by FCC chair to those of mob boss
Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, compared Brendan Carr’s threats to revoke the broadcast licenses of ABC stations over late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s commentary to “mafioso” tactics similar to those in Goodfellas, the 1990 mobster movie.
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Trump announces new deadly strike on suspected drug boat in Caribbean
Donald Trump announced that the US military has carried out another deadly strike on a vessel in the the Caribbean, killing three males on board the vessel whom Trump alleged were trafficking illicit narcotics.
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What else happened today:
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 18 September 2025.
