Just days after US President Donald Trump’s administration announced steep hikes in H-1B visa fees and tighter rules for skilled immigrant workers, a viral video of Trump himself has sparked a storm online — one where he’s seen admitting that “no, you don’t have certain talents here” and that the US “still needs skilled workers from abroad.”
The irony hasn’t gone unnoticed. Even as Trump publicly champions “America First,” Wall Street giants are quietly deepening their footprints in India — from Bengaluru to Mumbai, Hyderabad to Gurugram — in what looks like a race to move high-end finance and tech jobs offshore.
JPMorgan Chase is already adding credit specialists in Bengaluru. Goldman Sachs is expanding its loan review and derivatives teams. KKR is hiring portfolio managers in Mumbai, while Millennium Management seeks new risk analysts. The trend is unmistakable, as it becomes harder and costlier to hire foreign professionals in America, US companies are doubling down on India.
Across financial circles, senior executives call this the “GCC rush” — the rapid expansion of Global Capability Centers that have turned Indian offices into indispensable extensions of Wall Street. Once dismissed as back-office units, these campuses today design trading systems, run risk models, and even lead quantum and AI research for global investment banks.
Goldman Sachs’ Bengaluru workforce alone has jumped from 300 in 2004 to over 8,000 today, with India now hosting more Goldman employees than any location outside New York and London. JPMorgan’s Indian staff already accounts for nearly 20% of its global headcount.
Analysts say Trump’s visa curbs have, unwittingly, accelerated this very offshoring trend he sought to curb. With the new $100,000 H-1B application fee catching even Wall Street off guard, global firms are re-evaluating the logic of bringing talent into the US at all. Why pay heavy visa costs when the same work can be done in India more affordably and efficiently?
That, however, has led to growing discomfort within Washington — and perhaps explains Trump’s softer tone in recent days.
At a press briefing on Tuesday, November 11, the President hinted that tariffs on Indian exports could soon be reduced as part of a “fair trade deal” that’s now in its final stages. “We’re pretty close,” he said, confirming that Washington will “bring down tariffs on India very substantially.”
Indian officials, meanwhile, say the legal text of the deal is already being finalized. The landmark pact could balance trade, intensify energy cooperation, and pave the way for better market access for both sides. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has repeatedly stressed that India seeks an “equitable and fair” agreement that protects local farmers and workers — even as it opens new doors in high-value sectors.
For Trump, though, it may be a delicate recalibration. On the one hand, he projects toughness on immigration. On the other, his own economic agenda depends on global partnerships — particularly with India, whose technology and finance workforces underpin much of America’s corporate infrastructure.
“India is no longer just a low-cost destination. It’s a global talent hub,” says Vivek Ramji Iyer of Grant Thornton Bharat. “You can’t deny that the world’s financial systems now partly run from Indian cities.”
That reality is difficult to ignore — especially as videos of Trump’s Fox News interview gain traction, showing him admitting that the US “doesn’t have certain talents” internally. The comment has gone viral on social media in India, fueling the narrative that American companies are forced to rely on Indian expertise, whether through visas or offshore hiring.
Adding to the momentum, US-India ties have entered an unusually synchronized phase. With tariffs set to fall and a trade deal on the horizon, both economies stand to benefit — but only if Washington reins in its anti-immigration zeal.
For all of Trump’s hard talk on visas and tariffs, global business realities may be rewriting his playbook. The big question now: will the President backtrack further to save the trade deal — or watch America’s own financial giants shift even more of their brainpower to India?
