Donald Trump‘s senior official, Howard Lutnick, announced that he secured $5 billion in a single day by selling 1,000 immigration gold cards, each valued at $5 million. During an appearance on the ‘All-In Podcast,’ the US Commerce Secretary stated that, with a market of 37 million potential buyers, Trump is confident they can generate at least $5 trillion by selling one million of these exclusive cards.
“There are 37 million people in the world who are capable of buying the card… The president thinks we can sell a million,” Lutnick said.
Previously, Lutnick claimed that 250,000 people had expressed interest in purchasing Trump’s “gold cards,” which the former President introduced about a month ago as a replacement for the existing EB-5 investor visa.
When asked about the origin of the gold card—also referred to as the “Trump Card” in the podcast—Lutnick revealed that it was Trump’s idea, conceived during a meeting with investor John Paulson.
Lutnick stated that his role was to execute Trump’s vision, adding, “I figured out how to do it.”
The funds raised were directed toward reducing the US national debt, which currently stands at a staggering $36.2 trillion.
Origin of the Gold Card idea
The idea for the Gold Card originated during a conversation between Trump and billionaire investor John Paulson. ”Trump calls me, gets me on the phone…then we talk about it,” Lutnick said. ”My job is to work out how to do it.”
To streamline the process of the background checks of the applicants, Elon Musk’s team is making a custom software platform. ”It goes out in about two weeks,’’ Lutnick confirmed. ”You could do a better vet than anybody in the government has ever done earlier in one second.”
Though the program allows cardholders to apply for citizenship, Lutnick stated that most will pull out of it to avoid US global taxation rules.