With just one approval, Trump's 'Gold Card' program is off to an embarrassing start
(MS NOW) "The Associated Press reported: President Donald Trump’s ‘gold card’ visa, where a foreigner can shell out at least $1 million to legally live and work in the U.S., has been approved for one person, said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Thursday — appearing to fall a bit short of an earlier claim. The secretary didn’t identify the one individual who’d ponied up the $1 million."
"It appears, in other words, that the vaunted program is off to a rather slow start, which is problematic for a couple of reasons."
"First, Lutnick acknowledged the single 'gold card' transaction during a congressional hearing, when he was under oath and faced consequences for lying. During a recent podcast appearance, however, the beleaguered commerce secretary boasted about having sold a 1,000 'gold cards' immediately upon making them available to international buyers."
"Around the same time, Lutnick also claimed that the Republican administration had made $1.3 billion from the program...How does the secretary explain the gap between his public boasts and his sworn congressional testimony? The AP report added, 'Lutnick did not address the apparent discrepancy.' "
Continued at link:
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/with-just-one-approval-trumps-gold-card-program-is-off-to-an-embarrassing-start
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Who is surprised by this?
Link to tweet
The 'Gold Card' residency initiative that would supposedly allow wealthy individuals to secure US residency in exchange for US$5 million was tied to US President Donald Trump's administration.....
Lutnick's statement starkly contrasts with his March 2025 statement on the All-In Podcast, where he claimed that 1,000 of the Trump Gold Cards had been sold ahead of their launch. Linked to the program was Nicki Minaj after a post on social media in January suggested she had received the 'Gold Card' after attending a presidential summit.
Minaj shared an image of the card and later implied it had been given to her at no cost, adding that she was completing citizenship paperwork. In the post, the rapper wrote about 'Finalising that citizenship paperwork as we speak as per MY wonderful, gracious, charming President.'
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