Donald Trump defended hiring foreign workers for his Palm Beach club in an interview Sunday, telling ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that it's difficult to find employees in the US during the "Palm Beach social season."
BuzzFeed News reported last week that Trump filed applications this month for temporary visas to bring in 78 workers for his Mar-a-Lago club and his golf course.
"Mar-a-Lago's a very successful club in Palm Beach, Florida, the Mar-a-Lago Club. And during the season, it's very, very hard to get employees," Trump said when asked about BuzzFeed News' reporting on ABC News.
He continued, "We interview. And we have a lot of people. We come with a lotta people. But it's very, very hard to get people in Palm Beach during the Palm Beach season. It's called the 'Palm Beach social season.' And what we do is we sometimes have to bring people in."
Pressed on the number of foreign workers he has hired, Trump said, "I don't hire the people. But if you look at all of the other places in Palm Beach, they're all doing exactly the same thing because you can't get people, George."
Trump has made bringing jobs back to the United States and putting American workers first a major part of his campaign message. Trump said, though, that he thinks voters understand why he hires foreign workers for his own businesses.
"I think the voter understands it," he said. "Because they understand that I, you know, you're not reinventing the wheel here with these questions. These questions get asked all the time. I've been asked about Mar-a-Lago. I have many places where I don't have to do that because you have a normal season."