Former President Donald Trump’s social media company outsourced jobs to workers in Mexico, even as Trump publicly railed against outsourcing on the campaign trail and threatened to impose heavy tariffs to companies that send jobs south of the border.

The company’s use of Mexican workers was confirmed by a spokesperson for Trump Media, which operates the Truth Social platform. The workers were hired by another entity to code and perform other technical tasks, according to a person with knowledge of Trump Media. The use of foreign labor sparked outrage among company staff, who accused its leaders of betraying their “America First” ideals, the source said.

Outsourcing to Mexico contributed to a recent staff whistleblower letter to Trump Media’s board of directors that shook the company.

This complaint, reported by ProPublica last monthasks the board to fire CEO Devin Nunes, a former Republican congressman. The letter alleges he “severely” mismanaged the company. He also claims the company hires “America Last” – with Nunes imposing a directive to hire only foreign contractors at the expense of “American workers deeply committed to our mission.”

“This approach not only contradicts the America First principles we stand for, but also raises concerns about the quality, dedication, and alignment of our workforce with our core values,” the complaint states.

A Trump Media spokesperson said the company employs “two individual workers” in Mexico. “Presenting the fact that (Trump Media) is working with precisely two specialty contractors in Mexico as some sort of sensational scandal is just the latest in a long line of defamatory conspiracy theories invented by the serial fabricators of ProPublica,” he said. declared the spokesperson.

The spokesperson declined to answer further questions about the company’s Mexican subcontractors, including how much they were paid, how many were used over time and how their hiring fits with Trump’s promises to punish companies that send jobs outside the United States. did not answer questions.

For a company of its size, Trump Media has a small permanent staff, employing only a few dozen people as of late last year, only a portion of whom work on Truth Social technology.

Trump Media’s hiring of Mexican coders also sparked frustration among staff, the person with knowledge of the company said, because they were perceived by staff as not having the technical expertise to do the work .

On its home page, Social truth bills itself as “Proudly Made in the United States of America.” ”

Both as president and in his campaign for a second term, Trump has criticized companies that send jobs overseas, including to Mexico. If elected, he pledged to “stop outsourcing” And “punish» companies that send jobs abroad.

For example, Trump recently threatened agricultural machinery giant John Deere with tariffs if it carried out its plan to relocate part of its production to Mexico.

“I’m just informing John Deere that if you do this, we will impose a 200 percent tariff on anything you want to sell in the United States,” Trump said.

He made a similar threat against automakers that build cars in Mexico, demanding they hire American workers and manufacture in the country.

“I’m not going to let them build a factory right across the border,” Trump promised, “and sell millions of cars in the United States and destroy Detroit even more.”

Trump owns nearly 60% of the social media company, a stake worth about $3.5 billion as of Friday’s closing price, or more than half of the former president’s net worth.

Election results are widely considered a major factor in the company’s future value. In the run-up to the November 5 election, Trump Media’s stock price has fluctuated wildly, even though little or nothing has changed in the company’s actual operations, which generate meager revenue. The stock closed Friday down 40% from its recent high on Tuesday. Despite this drop, it has still almost doubled since the beginning of October.

One of Trump Media’s board members, Eric Swider, presented a defense of using foreign labor in a statement to ProPublica on behalf of his attorney.

“President Trump maintains an “America First” policy, which includes putting American workers first. Trump Media, however, is a global media company. For a global media company to use contractors, who in turn may use coders located in a foreign country, is standard industry practice,” the statement said. “Global media companies like Trump Media would have no right to control the employment decisions of their contractors, who may employ workers in a multitude of different countries besides the United States. »

Swider, a Puerto Rico-based businessman, serves on the board alongside better-known figures such as Donald Trump Jr. and Linda McMahon, the former Trump cabinet member who is now co-chair of his transition team .

Outsourcing to Mexico is not the only example in which Trump Media relies on foreign workers. ProPublica previously reported that the company had called on a foreign company to find workers in the Balkans.

Nunes, for his part, is quoted in a new book on Truth Social, “Make the president disappear“, boasting of his ability to keep costs low at Trump Media, but without mentioning outsourcing.

“No one has grown as fast as us. I don’t think there’s another example close to us, especially with as little money as we spent,” Nunes said. “Don’t forget that. We built this for a fraction of what these other companies were built for.