USA: Trump wants to make it easier for rich immigrants to naturalize in return for payment

US President Donald Trump wants to make it easier for wealthy US immigrants to become citizens in return for a financial reward. They will be able to purchase so-called gold cards for around five million US dollars. "You have a green card," Trump said in the Oval Office. "This is a gold card. We will set a price of around five million dollars for this card, and that will give you green card privileges."

According to a report by Bloomberg , Trump wants to start the program in just two weeks. He believes that his administration will not need to obtain approval from Congress. The US president did not provide any further details about the plan.

Trump said the card was a path to US citizenship, but people would not buy access to naturalization. According to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, immigrants would continue to be screened.

In addition, according to Lutnick, they would help reduce the budget deficit. Trump also apparently expects that companies would pay to bring trained workers to the USA with gold cards. The country could reportedly sell a million cards.

Immediately after his inauguration, Trump signed a number of executive orders that, among other things, promoted mass deportations .