Donald Trump has told foreign companies that they must hire and train American workers and respect immigration laws, after a raid at a Hyundai Motor manufacturing facility in Georgia saw about 300 South Koreans detained.
Nearly 500 workers in total were detained in the raid on Thursday, with US authorities releasing footage showing them restrained in handcuffs and ankle chains, loaded on to buses.
The raid marked the largest single site sweep carried out under Donald Trump’s nationwide anti-immigration campaign and appeared to strain the longstanding diplomatic and economic relationship between the US and South Korea.
“I am hereby calling on all Foreign Companies investing in the United States to please respect our Nation’s Immigration Laws,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday, adding “Your Investments are welcome, and we encourage you to LEGALLY bring your very smart people … What we ask in return is that you hire and train American Workers.”
Trump made the post shortly after telling reporters he would look at what happened but that the incident had not harmed his relationship with South Korea.
300 South Koreans detained at Hyundai plant in US to be released, says Seoul
South Korea announced on Sunday that the roughly 300 of its nationals detained during an immigration raid in Georgia would be released and flown home.
LG executive Kim Ki-soo flew to Georgia in an apparent effort to slow the fallout. “The immediate priority now is the swift release of both our LG Energy Solution employees and those of our partner firms,” Ki-soo reportedly said before boarding a plane.
US treasury secretary denies Trump tariffs are tax on Americans
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has refused to acknowledge that the sweeping trade tariffs imposed by Donald Trump around the world are taxes on Americans.
In a new interview Bessent, a former billionaire hedge fund manager, dismissed concerns from major American companies including John Deere, Nike and Black and Decker who have all said that Trump’s tariffs policy will cost them billions of dollars annually.
Bessent was asked: “Do you acknowledge that these tariffs are attacks on American consumers?” To which Bessent replied: “No, I don’t.”
The Republican senator who heads the homeland security committee has criticized JD Vance for “despicable” comments apparently in support of extrajudicial military killings.
“Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military,” the vice-president said in an X post on Saturday, in defense of Tuesday’s US military strike against a Venezuelan boat in the Caribbean Sea, which killed 11 people the administration alleged were drug traffickers.
Rand Paul condemned Vance’s comments, saying “Did he ever wonder what might happen if the accused were immediately executed without trial or representation? What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial.”
What else happened today:
-
Nine attorneys – who have represented approximately 50 Jeffrey Epstein survivors – have told the Guardian they have not been recently contacted by the justice department, despite the president’s promises to get to the bottom of the deceased financiers crimes.
-
As Chicago braced for an immigration enforcement crackdown and a possible national guard deployment, churches across the city have urged congregants to carry identification, stay connected to family and protest.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on Saturday 6 September 2025.
