WEBDESK: President Donald Trump has introduced a new $5 million visa called the ‘gold card,’ designed for wealthy individuals who want to live and work in the United States.
The card, which Trump revealed aboard Air Force One, is a replacement for the older EB-5 investor visa program. It allows people to buy U.S. residency and comes with extra benefits, including faster approval and exemption from U.S. taxes on foreign income.
Trump held up the shiny card , featuring his own face and called it ‘the Trump card.’
“If you’ve got $5 million, this can be yours,” he told reporters.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the program raised $5 billion in just one day last month by selling 1,000 cards. The funds will be used to reduce the national debt, he added.
The card is aimed at high-net-worth individuals from around the world and is part of Trump’s larger plan to focus on skilled, wealthy immigrants while tightening rules for others. Trump said people who apply will still go through background checks to make sure they’re “world-class citizens.”
The announcement came on the same day U.S. markets dropped sharply after Trump’s new global tariffs. But he brushed off concerns, saying the U.S. economy is like a patient “getting surgery” and that it will come back stronger.
Trump first mentioned the gold card idea in February, saying he hopes to eventually sell up to a million of them. When asked if Russian billionaires could buy the card, he didn’t say no.
“I’m the first buyer,” Trump joked, holding the prototype. “Pretty exciting, huh?”
The program is expected to start within weeks and does not need Congress to approve it.
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