Trump launches $5m “Gold Card” for immigrant investors

Key topics:.$5M investment grants green card privileges.Gold card to replace EB-5 immigrant program.Funds aim to reduce the US deficit.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here..Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here..If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By Hadriana Lowenkron and Akayla Gardner___STEADY_PAYWALL___.President Donald Trump said he is starting a program to offer residency and a path to citizenship to investors who pay $5 million, offering a new avenue for legal immigration even as he carries out a sweeping crackdown on undocumented migrants..Trump said the program, dubbed the "gold card," would launch in two weeks, adding that he did not believe his administration needed to secure approval from Congress. The full scope of the plan and how it would be implemented was not immediately clear.."We're going to be selling a gold card," Trump said Tuesday in the Oval Office as he signed executive orders alongside Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. .Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office on Feb. 25. Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg."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," he added, referencing the permits currently issued to US permanent residents..Read more:🔒 Trump's court: The folly and fear of a wannabe king – Max Hastings.Lutnick said the move could replace the existing EB-5 program, which allows immigrant investors to acquire green cards by investing a certain amount toward a business in the US. .Asked by a reporter if participants would need to invest a certain amount of money to qualify for a gold card, Lutnick responded "yeah, exactly" but suggested that funds for the visa might be paid directly to the government.."The president said rather than having this sort of ridiculous EB-5 program, we're going to end the EB-5 program. We're going to replace it with the Trump gold card," he said. "They'll be able to pay $5 million to the US government not to go through vetting, of course, going to make sure they are wonderful world class, global citizens."."They can come to America. The president can give them a green card, and they can invest in America, and we can use that money to reduce our deficit," he added..Trump has said he wants to keep pathways open for legal immigration to the US even as he carries out what he touted on the campaign trail as the largest deportation of undocumented migrants in the country's history. .Trump has moved to ramp up deportations and secure the US southern border during his second term, including threatening Canada and Mexico with tariffs if they do not do more to stem the flow of fentanyl, other illegal drugs and people into the US..Read also:.🔒 Trump's actions threaten democracy – Francis Wilkinson🔒 Irina Filatova: How Trump's Putin bromance has shattered ANC's worldview. Brilliant analysis.Trump's missteps: South Africa, nuclear power and Iran – Andrew Kenny.© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Trump launches $5m “Gold Card” for immigrant investors

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