Donald Trump says he will sell wealthy foreigners US ‘gold cards’ for $5m

The president said the card would be a path to citizenship.

According to ABC News and the Associated Press, the 78-year-old's proposal comes from an expectation that companies will pay to get educated workers into the country.

The president said the card would be a path to citizenship, but people would not be buying access to citizenship. He projected that he could sell up to one million cards.

Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said: "We're going to be selling a gold card. You have a green card. This is a gold card.

"We're going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million," he added. "And that's going to give you green card privileges. Plus, it's going to be a route to citizenship, and wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card."

He continued: "They'll be wealthy and they'll be successful and they'll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people. And we think it's going to be extremely successful and never been done before anything like this."

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick went on to suggest that the program could begin in the next few weeks and replace the existing EB-5 immigrant investor program. 

The EB-5 program allows investors to apply for permanent residence in the U.S. if they “make the necessary investment in a commercial enterprise in the United States” and plan to create or preserve 10 permanent full-time jobs.

Mr Lutnick described the EB-5 program as 'full of nonsense, make-believe and fraud'.

"It was a way to get a green card that was low priced," he added.

He also said that all immigrants would be vetted and that the measure would significantly reduce the budget deficit.

The new citizenship pathway comes as the Trump administration cracks down on immigration into the U.S.

Earlier this month, the president issued an executive order to end birthright citizenship. 

An appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s request to pause a lower court judge's order halting that executive order.