United States: Donald Trump launches a $5 million "gold card" to attract "rich people", including Russian oligarchs

Donald Trump wants massive investments in his country. The President of the United States announced on Tuesday, February 25, that the United States would begin selling "about five million dollars" worth of permanent residency certificates, called "Trump gold cards," based on the model of green cards , within two weeks.

"Rich people will come to this country by buying this card. They will be rich, and they will be successful and they will spend a lot of money and pay a lot of taxes and employ a lot of people," the American leader rejoiced to the press, from the White House.

"It's sort of like a green card," for permanent residence in the United States, "but at a higher level of sophistication," added Donald Trump, specifying that this "golden card" would allow its holders to access the "path to citizenship" in the longer term.

This new card can also be seen as a call to Russian oligarchs, most of whom have been sanctioned by the United States since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, who could potentially apply for this program.

"I know some Russian oligarchs who are very good people," Trump said. "It's possible" they could be eligible, he speculated.

According to the American president, the "gold card" will allow "to bring people into IT who create jobs, very high-level people." "I think companies will pay to bring people," he said.

"So Apple and all these companies that want people to come work for them will be able to buy a card," Trump added. He suggested that the United States could benefit from "selling maybe a million of these cards, maybe more than that."

A program similar to the one announced today, the EB-5, already exists in the United States. A permanent resident green card can be obtained by foreign nationals who make investments of a certain amount in the United States.

As CNN recalls, the latter consisted of granting green cards to immigrants who make a minimum investment of at least $1,050,000, or $800,000 in economically distressed areas called "targeted employment zones" in order to create jobs.

In 2019, the American media outlet recalls that the Trump administration had decided to increase the minimum investment amount for targeted economic zones to $900,000 and $1.8 million. The decision was overturned by a judge in 2021.

But according to Howard Lutnick, the US Secretary of Commerce, the existing program was subject to too much fraud and represented "a way to obtain a green card at low cost". He therefore announced that the United States will end this EB-5 program.

"We're going to replace it with the 'Trump gold card,'" he said in the Oval Office alongside the president, who campaigned in 2024 on tougher restrictions on illegal immigration.