With just one approval, Trump's 'Gold Card' program is off to an embarrassing start

[sop]

(MS NOW) "The Associated Press reported: President Donald Trump’s ‘gold card’ visa, where a foreigner can shell out at least $1 million to legally live and work in the U.S., has been approved for one person, said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Thursday — appearing to fall a bit short of an earlier claim. The secretary didn’t identify the one individual who’d ponied up the $1 million."

"It appears, in other words, that the vaunted program is off to a rather slow start, which is problematic for a couple of reasons."

"First, Lutnick acknowledged the single 'gold card' transaction during a congressional hearing, when he was under oath and faced consequences for lying. During a recent podcast appearance, however, the beleaguered commerce secretary boasted about having sold a 1,000 'gold cards' immediately upon making them available to international buyers."

"Around the same time, Lutnick also claimed that the Republican administration had made $1.3 billion from the program...How does the secretary explain the gap between his public boasts and his sworn congressional testimony? The AP report added, 'Lutnick did not address the apparent discrepancy.' "

Continued at link:

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/with-just-one-approval-trumps-gold-card-program-is-off-to-an-embarrassing-start

[Ocelot II]

1. Who wants to pay that kind of money to live in this shithole country

especially when they could be detained and deported by ICE if Piggy decides he doesn't need them and just wants to keep the money?

[Deep State Witch]

2. NiKki Minaj?

Lemme guess - it was Nikki Minaj.

[Trueblue Texan]

3. I was thinkin' Melania? nt

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. Lutnick Exposed for Falsely Claiming 70K People Bought Residency Cards for $5M As Nicki Minaj Is Revealed as Sole Buyer

Who is surprised by this?

Link to tweet

US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick is under scrutiny after admitting under oath to selling only one of Trump's 'Gold Card' visas, which was worth $1 million (roughly £740,000), plus a $15,000 (around £11,000) DHS processing fee. This admission comes after claiming to have sold 70,000 of the high-priced US residency program last year.

The 'Gold Card' residency initiative that would supposedly allow wealthy individuals to secure US residency in exchange for US$5 million was tied to US President Donald Trump's administration.....

Lutnick's statement starkly contrasts with his March 2025 statement on the All-In Podcast, where he claimed that 1,000 of the Trump Gold Cards had been sold ahead of their launch. Linked to the program was Nicki Minaj after a post on social media in January suggested she had received the 'Gold Card' after attending a presidential summit.

Minaj shared an image of the card and later implied it had been given to her at no cost, adding that she was completing citizenship paperwork. In the post, the rapper wrote about 'Finalising that citizenship paperwork as we speak as per MY wonderful, gracious, charming President.'

[sop]

5. He was only off by 69,999 Gold Cards.

Could happen to anyone...