The US administration launches the Trump Card

In a move that stunned the world on 19 September 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order formally launching the “Trump Gold Card”, a US$1 million fast track for wealthy foreign nationals to live and work in the United States.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, on a subsequent call with reporters, said the gold card would replace the existing EB-1 and EB-2 visa programmes for people of “extraordinary value” to the United States. He said the administration expects to offer 80,000 gold cards initially but will continue to assess the model and may eventually phase out the other visas.

The administration spent months teasing the gold card, opening a waiting list in June for interested applicants. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who is leading the rollout, joined Trump in the Oval Office on Friday and promoted the visa programme as a way to increase investment and raise revenue for the United States. He said it would bring in US$100 billion, which Trump suggested could be used to cut taxes and pay down the federal debt.

“We have been taking in people from the lowest percentiles,” Lutnick said of the current visa programme. “We are going to stop doing that. We are only going to take extraordinary people at the very top, rather than people trying to take Americans’ jobs.”

The announcement marks the latest in a series of steps by the Trump administration to raise revenue for the Treasury in novel and often unprecedented ways.

Since taking office, Trump has collected billions of dollars through new tariffs, taken a stake in Intel, demanded 15 per cent of Nvidia’s revenue from sales of certain chips to China, and hinted that it should take a share of revenue from university patents.

Lutnick said the gold card is similar to the green card model, and that individuals would have to pay tax on worldwide income in the same way as US citizens or permanent residents. Individuals will be charged US$1 million for a gold card, and US$2 million for companies sponsoring an employee, in addition to a US$15,000 vetting fee.

Another visa category — the “Trump Platinum Card” — is unlikely to arrive any time soon. According to the government website, it would cost US$5 million and allow the holder to stay in the United States for up to 270 days without being taxed on non-US income. Trump did not mention it on Friday, and Lutnick told reporters that it would require approval from Congress.

The gold card was announced as the Trump administration tightens other forms of immigration — both legal and illegal. In addition to targeting undocumented immigrants, the Trump administration has cut back legal pathways such as the Temporary Protected Status programme and the humanitarian parole programme.

On Friday the administration also tightened the country’s H-1B programme — designed for workers in skilled or specialty occupations — by adding a new US$100,000 fee to curb abuse.

And like his aggressive immigration programme, the gold card may also face legal challenges, with experts warning that allowing people to jump the queue could lead to litigation.

Read about Trump Card.