Trump proposes $5M ‘gold card’ visa, says ‘very nice’ Russian oligarchs could qualify
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press after signing an Executive Order at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on Feb. 25, 2025. (AFP Photo)
U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled plans to replace the EB-5 investor visa program, which grants permanent residency to investors, with a new “gold card” visa worth $5 million, suggesting that Russian oligarchs could be among the primary beneficiaries.
Trump said sales of the new visa, a high-price version of the traditional green card, would bring in job creators and could be used to reduce the U.S. national deficit.
“We’re going to be selling a gold card. 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,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, after signing some executive orders.
The Republican president, who has made the deportation of millions of undocumented migrants a priority of his second term, said the new card would be a route to highly prized U.S. citizenship.
‘Russian oligarchs are not as wealthy as they used to be’
“A lot of people are going to want to be in this country, and they’ll be able to work and provide jobs and build companies,” Trump said. “It’ll be people with money.” He said that the sales of the cards would start in about two weeks.
“We’ll be able to sell maybe a million of these cards. We have it all worked out from a legal standpoint,” Trump stated, adding that all applicants for the new gold cards would be carefully vetted.
However, when asked if wealthy Russians would also be able to apply, Trump said it was a possibility. “Possibly. I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people. It’s possible,” Trump said. “They’re not as wealthy as they used to be. I think they can. I think they can afford $5 million.”
A number of Russian oligarchs have been hit by Western sanctions since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
Trump has sparked concern in European capitals by unexpectedly initiating negotiations with Russia to end the war, raising fears that he may compromise Ukraine’s interests.
The U.S. president told reporters that lifting sanctions on Russia was possible “at some point” but was not currently on the table.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, standing at Trump’s side in the Oval Office, said of the gold cards that “we can use that money to reduce our deficit.”
Trump, who has branded a series of hotels and casinos in a long business career, even suggested the new cards could also be named after him. “Somebody said, ‘Can we call it the Trump gold card?’ I said, ‘If it helps, use the name Trump,'” he said.
