US President Donald Trump showed journalists a “gold card” that entitles him to permanent residence in the US and opens the way to US citizenship for five million dollars.
The gold-coloured plastic rectangle features a portrait of Trump and bears the inscription “Trump card”. Trump told reporters who accompanied the US leader on the presidential plane that he was the first holder of a “Trump card”.
Trump first announced plans to sell gold cards for five million dollars on 25 February. At the time, the US president said the programme was going to be launched “in a fortnight”.
Asked by reporters whether “Russian oligarchs” would be able to buy such a card, Trump said he saw no obstacles to this. “I know some Russian oligarchs who are very nice people,” he said.
The US now has an EB-5 programme, under which you can get a green card, which gives you the right to live and work in the country, for an investment of about one million dollars (about $800,000 in economically disadvantaged areas). Whether the EB-5 programme will complement or replace the “gold card” programme, the Trump administration has not yet specified.