President Trump unveiled a pretty attention-grabbing idea on Tuesday: selling “gold cards” for a cool $5 million apiece. The hook? These cards would grant wealthy folks from overseas permanent residency and a potentially “easier” path to becoming US citizens. Peter Schiff, chair of Europac, even chimed in, suggesting this could be a way to chip away at the national debt.

Speaking to reporters right at the White House, Trump mentioned that this plan is all about attracting high-net-worth individuals. His thinking is that these people would boost the American economy by spending money, paying taxes, and creating new jobs.

“We’re going to see wealthy individuals come to our country by purchasing this card,” Trump explained. “They’ll be rich and successful, and they’ll be pumping money into the economy, paying significant taxes, and providing employment for many people.””

Taking to X on February 25th, Schiff weighed in that the money from these “gold visas” could actually tackle America’s massive $36.22 trillion debt. He playfully pointed out, “If a US passport truly is worth $5 million, Trump would only need to sell about 7 million of them to wipe out the entire National Debt.”

President Trump: Gold Cards Aim to Smooth US Citizenship for Wealthy Investors

Trump told reporters that his “gold card” idea is intended to replace the current EB-5 immigrant investor visa program. For context, the EB-5 program, around since 1990, already offers permanent residency to foreign investors who invest in ways that create or protect jobs in the US.

“This will give you green card privileges and also serve as a pathway to American citizenship. Wealthy individuals will be coming into our country by purchasing this card,”” Trump stated, adding that more details about these gold visas are expected in about two weeks.

Standing alongside the president in the Oval Office, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick didn’t hold back on his criticism of the existing EB-5 program. He called it “full of nonsense, make-believe, and fraud” and basically “a cheap way to get a green card.”

Lutnick also suggested that the Trump administration’s new “gold card” approach would ensure that only the wealthiest applicants get US residency. “They’ll have to go through vetting, naturally,” Lutnick added.

The White House hasn’t yet spelled out the specific requirements for snagging one of these “gold card” visas. Interestingly, when asked if Russian oligarchs might be eligible, Trump’s response was, “Yeah, possibly. You know, I know some Russian oligarchs who are very nice people.”

Peter Schiff Floats Idea of Citizens Selling Passports

Peter Schiff, a well-known advocate for gold and vocal critic of government spending, suggested a rather unconventional alternative: What if American citizens could simply sell their own passports to the highest bidder?

“What if we cut out the middleman and just allowed any American who wants to leave the country to sell their passport for $5 million? That could potentially solve two problems at once,”” he posted on X.

Schiff argued that many Americans might jump at the chance to leave the US for less than $5 million, and that such a system could be a “win-win” because in his view, the “country would be better off without them.”

“Let people sell to whoever offers the most. It would be a good deal for everyone involved,” he asserted.

One X user pushed back on the SchiffGold LLC founder’s idea, pointing out that the government likely wouldn’t let citizens directly profit from selling their citizenship. Schiff’s reply?

“The citizen would be selling their own passport, so there’s no increase in the number of citizens. It would actually be a positive exchange. Plus, many Americans could go from being on welfare to millionaires. Sounds like a win-win to me!”

Another commenter dismissed Schiff’s proposal, noting that there are only about 3 million people worldwide with a net worth of $5 million or more, and many of them are already US citizens. This limited pool of wealthy, non-US citizens suggests the program might not generate enough cash to significantly reduce the national debt.

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Source: cryptopolitan.com