Trump’s Gold Card: $5 Million for a Path to U.S. Citizenship

Trump’s Gold Card: $5 Million for a Path to U.S. Citizenship

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump sat in the Oval Office on Tuesday, leaned forward, and laid it out plain. A new visa. A new deal. A “gold card” for those who can pay.

“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,” Trump said. “We think it’s going to be extremely successful.”

The Trump Gold Card will require a $5 million investment, replacing the 35-year-old EB-5 visa program. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said it would take effect in two weeks.

The EB-5 program, created in 1990, allowed foreigners to invest around $1 million in U.S. businesses, provided they created at least 10 jobs. It brought in capital. It also brought controversy—fraud, loopholes, and questions about whether it really benefited American workers. Lutnick says the new program will cut out the nonsense.

“This raises the price of admission,” Lutnick said. “This does away with the fraud. This is for serious people.”

Unlike its predecessor, the Gold Card isn’t just a visa—it’s a direct path to a green card and, eventually, citizenship.

The numbers speak. In the 12 months ending September 2022, about 8,000 people secured investor visas, according to Homeland Security.

Now, the stakes are higher. The cost of entry steeper. Trump’s bet? The wealthy will still line up, checkbooks in hand, ready to buy a piece of the American dream.

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