Trump Gold Card offering visas for $5M will launch online soon, aiming to raise $1 trillion from wealthy applicants.

Trump Gold Card Set to Launch Online as High-Dollar Visa Program

The Trump administration’s much-anticipated Gold Card visa program is set to go live online within weeks, offering a new route to U.S. citizenship for foreign nationals willing to invest $5 million. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed the timeline during a live appearance at the Axios event Building the Future on Wednesday.

The initiative, first introduced by President Donald Trump in March, has been pitched as a more elite version of the green card—“better and more sophisticated.” According to Trump, the program is designed to attract “the most successful job-creating people from all over the world” and give them a streamlined path to citizenship.

Lutnick told Axios co-founder Mike Allen that the new website, trumpcard.gov, will be operational within a week, with registration and further details to follow shortly after. “All that will come over a matter of the next weeks — not month, weeks,” Lutnick emphasized.

The program, while targeting ultra-wealthy global investors, is intended to help the U.S. pay down its national debt. Lutnick said the logic is simple: wealthy individuals who want a “Plan B” will be willing to pay for the security of U.S. residency. “You come to the airport in America and the person in immigration says, ‘Welcome home,’” he said.

Each applicant will be vetted before receiving the visa, and Lutnick asserted that these individuals will bring significant economic benefits. “These are going to be great people who are going to come and bring businesses and opportunity to America,” he said.

Lutnick illustrated the program’s financial potential with a hypothetical: if 200,000 people purchase the Gold Card at $5 million each, the U.S. could raise $1 trillion. “We give away 280,000 visas per year now for free,” he noted. “Donald Trump’s gonna bring in a trillion dollars for what purpose? To make America better.”

The Gold Card comes amid Trump’s hardline stance on illegal immigration and as student debt and education costs dominate national discourse. Lutnick contrasted the program with previous policy, asserting that this route is about attracting “great global citizens” who will generate economic growth and pay U.S. taxes.

Critics, however, have raised concerns about the risk of fraud. Lora Ries of the Heritage Foundation previously warned that immigration benefits often attract bad actors. Lutnick addressed these fears by stressing the depth of the vetting process, calling it “deep” and “thorough.”

In a February interview, Lutnick reiterated the administration’s intent to ensure high standards for all candidates. “Think of the jobs they are going to bring with them, the businesses they are going to bring with them,” he said. “This is huge money for America.”

As the launch date nears, the Trump Gold Card visa program stands to reshape the conversation around legal immigration, combining wealth-driven entry with economic patriotism.