With $1 million or more you can become an American citizen even if you are coming from a ‘shithole’ country, a new immigration scheme monitised by President Donald Trump seems to suggests.

President Donald Trump has just announced that his “gold card” immigration plan has officially launched – a system the administration claims will fast-track residency and citizenship for wealthy immigrants for $1 million or more.

“Very excitingly, for me and for the country, we’ve just launched the Trump gold card. About 30 minutes from now, the site goes up and all funds go to the United States government,” Trump said at a roundtable with business leaders.

The website, which is now live and accepting applications, states: “For a $15,000 DHS processing fee and, after background approval, a contribution of $1 million, receive U.S. residency in record time with the Trump Gold Card.”

The Trump Administration began accepting applications on Dec. 10th, 2025, for the Trump “Gold Card” program, a fast-tracked pathway for foreign nationals to gain permanent resident status in the U.S., starting at a million dollars.

Trump described the card as “somewhat like a green card, but with big advantage,” adding that companies will now be able to “buy a card and keep that person in the United States,” including graduates from top schools like “Wharton School of Finance, Stern Business School, Harvard and MIT.”

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the program could generate billions of dollars for the U.S. Treasury.

“Obviously, they have to be perfect, people in America,” Lutnick added. “Having passed the vetting after five years, they’ll be available to become citizens.”

The announcement comes as Trump has announced sweeping new restrictions on immigration. He has claimed he would suspend immigration from all “Third World Countries” and that he would halt all decisions on asylum applications following the shooting of the two National Guard troops last month in Washington, D.C.

The president’s comments about the Gold Card also contrasted sharply with the harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric delivered at his event the night before.

Why can’t we have some people from Norway, Sweden, just a few,” Trump said at the event. “Let us have a few… from from Denmark. Do you mind sending us a few people? Send us some nice people. Do you mind? But we always take people from Somalia, places that are a disaster, right? Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime.”

Trump’s polices and rhetoric on immigration have faced criticism in his second term, including in response to his administration’s mass deportation policies and his pause on asylum decisions in the wake of the National Guard shooting.

• More reports from abcnews.go.com