The Oval Office felt more like a luxury auction house this week as Donald Trump unveiled his latest immigration gambit: a $5 million “gold card” residency program that would grant wealthy foreigners a direct path to U.S. citizenship. Flanked by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Trump framed the proposal as a patriotic debt-reduction scheme. “We’re selling prestige,” he declared, the gilded edges of the mock-up cards catching the light like casino chips. “Why settle for green when you can buy gold?”
Critics, however, see a darker transaction—one that echoes the Kremlin’s playbook of leveraging oligarch loyalty. When asked whether sanctioned Russian elites might exploit the program, Trump shrugged. “I know some very nice oligarchs,” he said, grinning as Lutnick stifled a laugh. The remark landed like a lead balloon in European capitals already uneasy about Trump’s backchannel overtures to Moscow. After all, this is the same administration budgeting $200 million for anti-immigrant ads while fast-tracking visas for those who can afford the entry fee.
The plan would dismantle the beleaguered EB-5 visa program, long criticized for lax oversight and fraud. Lutnick dismissed the existing system as “nonsense,” arguing the gold card’s steeper price tag—nearly five times the EB-5’s minimum investment—would deter “low-tier” applicants. But skeptics question how vetting “world-class global citizens” squares with Trump’s casual openness to Russian buyers. “It’s a loyalty test disguised as due diligence,” remarked one immigration lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous. “Loyalty to whom? That’s the real question.”
