Donald Trump has unveiled a $5 million 'gold card' with his face on it for wealthy immigrants looking to make the United States their permanent home.
The Republican president said people “of wealth or people of great talent” will be able to purchase the new "green-card-privileges-plus” in the hope of creating jobs and boosting economic growth.
This announcement came as stock markets across the world nosedived after Mr Trump announced a sweeping set of tariffs on Wednesday, arguing that they would allow the US to thrive economically.
The current EB-5 program states that foreigners can only receive the card if they “make the necessary investment in a commercial enterprise in the United States” and intend to generate or sustain 10 full-time jobs.
But Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick described the scheme, which was enacted by Congress under then president George H.W. Bush, as “full of nonsense, make-believe and fraud”.
The US offers a plethora of visas for foreign nationals who want to live and work in the country, each with its own set of requirements.
However, Mr Trump says his gold card, which features his face, hopes to attract “very high level people”, including “big taxpayers”.
It is unclear how long the card would take to obtain and what additional measures — other than financial — would be needed to qualify.
Nevertheless, Mr Trump said applicants must go through strict vetting to ensure they are “wonderful, world-class global citizens”.
Speaking of the visa, Mr Trump told journalist aboard Air Force One on Thursday: "For $5 million, this could be yours.
"That was the first of the cards. You know what that card is?
"It’s the gold card — the Trump card."
He claimed he was the first buyer of the card but was unsure on who the second was.
Mr Lutnick said last month that more than 1,000 cards had been sold Mr Trump previously suggested one million visas could be sold.
Asked by reporters about the impact of his new tariffs on global markets, Mr Trump said: “Well, I mean, it’s to be expected where this is a patient that was very sick. We really inherited a terrible economy… with a lot of problems.”
