Trump Launches $500M "Trump Card" for Wealthy Immigrants, Aims to Balance Budget

Donald Trump has announced the launch of a new initiative called the "Trump Card," priced at 500 million dollars. The card, which aims to attract wealthy immigrants, has already garnered over 15,000 people on its waiting list since the website went live. Trump stated that the 750 billion dollars generated from this initiative will help balance the budget and strengthen the U.S. economy. The waiting list is now open for registrations.

The website features a gold-colored card with Trump's likeness and requires applicants to fill out basic information, including their name, region, email address, and the nature of their application (personal or corporate). The region options are divided into eight categories: Europe, Asia (including the Middle East), North America, Oceania, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and Africa.

Trump first mentioned the idea of the "Trump Card" in February, describing it as a pathway to U.S. citizenship for wealthy immigrants. He clarified that the card would not grant immediate citizenship but would offer similar rights to a green card, making it a powerful route to eventual citizenship. Trump suggested that the federal government could sell 10 million of these cards to reduce the national deficit.

The "Trump Card" is intended to replace the EB-5 investment immigration green card program, which allows immigrants to invest between 800,000 to 1,050,000 dollars to obtain a green card. The investment funds are used to create or preserve jobs in the U.S. However, the specific requirements for "Trump Card" holders to become U.S. citizens have not been publicly disclosed by the White House, and more details are expected to be released soon.

Elon Musk, who was the head of the "Government Efficiency Department" (DOGE) at the time, led the team responsible for developing the "Trump Card" system. Musk's team collaborated with officials from the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to create the application website and approval process. This project marks a shift in the department's focus from reducing government spending to generating revenue.

In May, Musk announced that the "Trump Card" website had entered the testing phase, stating that a small-scale test was being conducted to ensure the system's functionality. Once the full testing is complete, Trump will officially announce the program and make it available to the public. The U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, who was involved in the planning of this initiative, described the EB-5 program as "full of nonsense, falsehoods, and fraud," and expressed that the "Trump Card" would attract "world-class global citizens."