President Donald Trump floated a new idea on Tuesday, sharing that the U.S. may soon sell “gold cards” to wealthy foreigners, giving them green cards for a fee of $5 million.
Trump shared his latest idea to bring in money while speaking with reporters from the Oval Office.
“We’re going to be selling a gold card,” Trump said. “You have a green card. This is a gold card. 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 it’s going to be a route to citizenship. And wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card.”
Despite being brought up for the first time this week, Trump said that the sale of the cards will begin in mid-March, adding that millions of them could soon be sold.
Reporters questioned Trump on his plan, asking if he would be open to selling the cards to Russian oligarchs, who, under the last administration, faced scrutiny as a result of the war in Ukraine.
“Yeah, possibly. I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people,” Trump answered.
Trump shared the idea while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was with him, and Lutnick added that the card would be a replacement for the government’s current EB-5 immigrant investor program.
That program, first created in 1992, allows foreign investors to pump money into U.S. projects that create jobs and then apply for visas to immigrate to the U.S. The program requires immigrants to invest at least $1,050,000, or $800,000 in economically distressed zones, to be granted a green card.
It was last renewed in 2022 during the Biden administration when the minimum investment requirements were raised to their current levels.
When it comes to the new program, Lutnick shared that those looking to buy a “gold card” will “have to go through vetting, of course, to make sure they’re wonderful world-class global citizens.”