President Donald Trump’s “Gold Card” visa is being snubbed by its target audience.
Lawyers for the global elite are advising clients not to pursue a Trump Gold Card, a visa priced at $1 million or $2 million with a $15,000 application fee, the Washington Post reported. Seven attorneys representing Trump’s uber-wealthy target audience cited ongoing litigation, taxes, and the lack of a congressionally established visa as reasons why.
Even attorneys with direct ties to the Trump family have expressed their hesitancies. Michael Wildes, an immigration attorney who has represented First Lady Melania Trump and her naturalized-citizen parents, told the Washington Post that he would not accept clients interested in the president’s visa scheme.
“It would be unethical of me to retain them,” Wildes told the Post, questioning the program’s legality. He has also represented Miss Universe titleholders and members of the Kushner family.
The president unveiled the Trump Gold Card in June and officially launched the $5 million initiative through an executive order in September. But the moneymaking scheme has yet to be codified by Congress—meaning it could be rescinded at any time.
That legal uncertainty is precisely why Rosanna Berardi also turns away clients interested in the dubious gold card. “As immigration counsel, our obligation is always to protect our clients’ interests,” she told the Post. “And we do not believe it is appropriate to recommend a program with such significant legal uncertainty and financial risk, even when clients express a desire to proceed.”
However, not every attorney has wholly rejected Trump’s latest visa scheme. Mona Shah, for her part, has two clients at various stages in the gold card application process. But she told the Post that she warned them that the visa might be “false advertising” and go nowhere. Shah said her clients—wealthy individuals from Nigeria and Pakistan—are willing to waste the money.
Just 338 people have submitted requests for a Trump Gold Card, and only 165 have paid the $15,000 visa processing fee, according to a Department of Homeland Security court filing last week. It’s a far cry from the Trump administration’s previous assertions, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick proclaiming last year that the federal government would make more than $100 billion in revenue from issuing 80,000 Gold Cards.
Lutnick also claimed in March that the administration had already handed out 1,000 Trump Gold Cards for $5 million each before the program had even launched. The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
The DHS filing also stated that gold visa applicants would not supersede EB-1 or EB-2 visas, which are reserved for extraordinary workers. Lutnick has, however, told lawmakers that at least one person has received their Gold Card.
While it’s unclear who that individual is, rumors have swirled that it could be rapper Nicki Minaj, a newly minted MAGA supporter who recently suggested online that she had received a Trump Gold Card. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A White House official told the Washington Post that Minaj’s card is a “memento,” not a real visa.
