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Only one person has been approved under the program of the golden card from Trump, as confirmed by Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Thursday during a hearing before the United States Congress.
The data contrasts with the expectations generated after the official launch of the program in December 2025, when Lutnick claimed that the government had sold "the equivalent of" 1.3 billion dollars in just a few days, while Trump held up the golden ticket and described the program as essentially, the green card on steroids.
Lutnick did not address the apparent discrepancy between those sales figures and the actual number of approvals during the Congressional hearing.
The Secretary of Commerce defended the outcomes of the program, stating that there are hundreds in the queue that are being reviewed and that the government wanted to "ensure it is done perfectly," reported the channel Telemundo 51.
The identity of the sole approved beneficiary was not made publicly known.
The golden card allows wealthy foreigners to obtain permanent residency in the United States —with a pathway to citizenship— in exchange for a non-refundable investment of one million dollars, plus a processing fee of 15,000 dollars.
The program also includes a corporate option: companies can pay two million dollars for an employee born abroad, with an annual maintenance fee of 1%.
Additionally, the official website of the program promotes the upcoming "Trump Platinum Card" worth five million dollars, which would offer up to 270 days of stay in the United States without paying taxes on income earned outside the country.
The program was designed to replace the EB-5, which was decades old and required an investment of between $800,000 and $1.8 million in projects that created at least ten full-time jobs.
Unlike the EB-5, the golden card does not require job creation or a specific work history, and the donation is non-recoverable.
The program attracted over 70,000 expressions of interest since the opening of its waiting list in June 2025, although the actual approvals have been minimal.
Lutnick stated in a cabinet meeting that the gold card would raise one trillion dollars in revenue and help "balance the budget."
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