The website for the Trump administration’s new “gold card” program, which will offer U.S. permanent residency for a $5 million investment, will launch within a week, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Wednesday at an Axios Building the Future event in Washington.
Lutnick told Axios’ Mike Allen that the website, trumpcard.gov, will first allow users to register their interest in purchasing a card.
“All that will come over a matter of the next weeks — not month, weeks,” Lutnick said. “Everyone I meet who’s not an American is going to want to buy the card if they have the fiscal capacity.”
Why it Matters
President Donald Trump focused heavily on illegal immigration during his 2024 presidential campaign, promising to enact mass deportations after taking office—a promise he kept, and with much public backing even as polling indicated that he was losing public trust on other issues.
However, while trying to deport illegal immigrants, the administration has looked at expanding certain legal avenues of immigration—most famously encapsulated in the fierce debate around the H-1B employment-based visa for high-skilled workers.
What to Know
Lutnick previously said that the program had 250,000 applicants. The administration says the card will also carry additional benefits, such as exempting the holder from paying U.S. taxes on their overseas income.
Lutnick added to Axios, “This is for people who can help America pay off its debt. Why wouldn’t you want a Plan B that says. God forbid something bad happens, you come to the airport in America and the person in immigration says, ‘Welcome home.’”
Billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk said earlier this month through a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the $5 million “gold card” immigration visa will be rolled out sooner than later as the government finishes a “quiet trial” of the system.
Trump revealed the card to reporters aboard Air Force One last month, with his face emblazoned on it, calling it the “Trump Card.”
The proposed “gold card” program may still face legal and procedural hurdles that require congressional approval. While the administration claims it can implement the program through executive authority and existing visa frameworks, even some Republican senators argue that granting green cards outside of established immigration quotas would likely require an act of Congress.
Under the existing EB-5 program, applicants must pay between $100,000 and $200,000 in fees to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), invest between $800,000 and $1 million, and create at least 10 jobs for American workers.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky told Roll Call in March that the gold card initiative would “probably” require congressional authorization and emphasized that it should not replace the existing EB-5 program, which he believes has been beneficial to the country.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump previously said in the Oval Office: “It’s going to be a route to citizenship, and wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card. They will be wealthy, they will be successful, they will be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes.”
David Lesperance, Managing Partner at Lesperance & Associates told Newsweek last month: “The promoted feature of the “Trump Card” is that the holders will magically only be subject to US territorial taxation. To actually make this happen would require a change to the definition of being a US person for Tax Purposes in the Internal Revenue Code. There would need to be a new category that outlines how Gold Card holders’ tax obligations are completely different from the worldwide tax obligations of Citizens, Green Card Holders, and those who trigger the Substantial Presence Test.”
“Not only is it impossible to make such a significant legislative change by Executive Order, it is almost guaranteed that there will never be a sufficient number of votes in both houses to make such a change.”
Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said in an interview with Semafor last month: “We’re trying to come up with some legislation that would make that happen. It is sort of the ultimate merit-based immigration. And if we continue to attract the smartest, most accomplished people from around the world to America, that’s good for all of us.”
Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, previously told Newsweek in a statement: “You don’t need to have $5 million in your bank account to build a successful company in America. Just look at Sergey Brin, Sundar Pichai, or Satya Nadella. We should welcome talented workers to America who will bring their creativity and productivity while also reforming the H1-B program to prevent abuses.”
Paul told Roll Call in March: “I don’t think it should replace the EB-5 because I think there are a lot of people who come to this country with the EB-5 level that might not come at the $5 million level.”
What Happens Next
Announced as part of a broader immigration system overhaul, the initiative signals the president’s focus on investment-driven immigration. Supporters argue it could bring significant capital into the U.S., while critics contend that the priority should be attracting skilled talent instead.
This is developing news and will be updated with additional information.
Update: 5/21/25, 7:15 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and remarks.
Update: 5/21/25, 7:26 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and remarks.
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