President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that a new pathway to U.S. citizenship will soon be available for purchase—for the eye-watering sum of $5 million.
Trump said a “gold card” will go up for sale in about two weeks to entice “wealthy people” to enter the U.S.
“We’re going to be selling a gold card,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “We’re going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million, and that’s going to give you Green Card privileges, plus.”
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The president said the “gold card” would also be a new route to American citizenship.
“Wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card,” he said. “They’ll be wealthy and they’ll be successful, and they’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think it’s going to be extremely successful.”
Trump proceeded to claim that the idea has “never been done before,” though many countries—including Spain, Portugal, and Greece—offer similar programs more commonly known as “golden visas.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who joined Trump for the press conference, said the gold card is meant to replace the existing EB-5 program that allows investors to obtain a Green Card by investing in an American enterprise and creating or preserving 10 permanent full-time jobs for American workers.
The money generated from the gold card program is expected to go toward the budget deficit.
“We’ll be able to sell maybe a million of these cards, maybe more than that. And if you add up the numbers, they’re pretty good,” Trump said. “It may be earmarked for deficit, but it actually could be more money than that… but generally it’s going to be paying down debt.”
Lutnick said applicants will undergo vetting to ensure “they’re wonderful world-class global citizens.”
When asked whether a Russian oligarch would be eligible for a gold card, Trump said “it’s possible.”
“Yeah, possibly. Hey, I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people,” the president said. “They’re not as wealthy as they used to be. I think they could afford $5 million.”
Researchers at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Harvard University found in a 2021 study that funds generated by residence-by-investment programs only account for a “minuscule proportion” of foreign investment in most countries and produce “negligible national-level economic impact.”
The gold card scheme aimed at attracting rich foreigners was introduced amid a massive push by the Trump administration to deport undocumented immigrants.
Over 37,000 people were deported during Trump’s first month back in office, which still fell below the monthly average of 57,000 deportations under the Biden administration.
