From announcing a unique ‘Gold Card’ visa to bring in ‘productive people’ to the country to ‘rare’ mineral deal with Ukraine, the US President is firing all cylinders to Make America Great Again.
Washington: Since January 20, Donald Trump has been a busy man on the job in order to make America a superpower once again. In his fresh scheme of things, he is “going to be selling a Gold Card,” putting a price on that card of about $5 million that could be on sale in two weeks.
“It’s going to give you Green Card privileges, plus it’s going to be a route to (American) citizenship, and wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card,” he said this week. The scheme, the details of which would be known in two weeks, would replace the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program.
The EB-5 program, created by Congress in 1990 and administered by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), grants permanent residency (Green Card) to foreigners who invest in American businesses. Investors must put in at least $1.05 million ($800,000 in certain specific cases), and create at least 10 jobs for Americans.
While details are not known yet, it appears that the Gold Card will not require an investment in American businesses or the creation of new employment. It could simply be a direct purchase of a Green Card by paying a flat fee of $5 million to the US government.
The ‘Gold Card’ will enable American companies to buy them for prized talents they want to recruit from US universities, and mentioned those from India, China, Japan, and also allow wealthy foreigners to come to the US, some of whom, it is presumed, will start businesses that create jobs.
“People come from India, China, Japan, and lots of different places. And they go to Harvard, the Wharton School of Finance, they go to Yale, they go to all great schools, and they graduate number one in their class. And they made job offers, but the offer is immediately rescinded because you have no idea whether or not that person can stay in the country. I want to be able to have that person stay in the country. These companies can go and buy a gold card, and they can use it as a matter of recruitment. We’re going to start selling, hopefully, in about two weeks now,” Trump elaborated. President Trump sees the ‘Gold Card’ also as a tool to raise money to pay down the national debt.
Ukraine rare mineral deal
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that US and Ukrainian teams were preparing for negotiations. The minerals partnership agreement, support for Ukraine and security guarantees will be on the agenda of the potential meeting on Friday (US time). "It is important to me and to all of us around the world that the US's aid is not stopped. Strength is essential on the path to peace," he said.
Previously, Trump announced that Zelenskyy would sign the deal at the White House on Friday (February 28). "Our teams are working with America, we are preparing for talks this Friday," Zelensky said in a video posted to his official Telegram channel.
Following a series of intensive negotiations, Washington and Kyiv agreed on a deal to establish a fund to which Ukraine will contribute 50 per cent of proceeds from the "future monetization" of state-owned mineral resources, including oil, gas, and logistics infrastructure.
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers approved the decision to sign the mineral resources agreement. Zelensky told reporters that although specific measures are not included in the current agreement, guarantees will be discussed in future negotiations.
Fresh trade tariffs continue
The Trump administration has made a decision to impose 25 per cent tariffs on products from the European Union (EU), including cars and claimed that the EU -- a 27-country bloc -- was "formed to screw the US".
"We have made a decision. We'll be announcing it very soon, and it'll be 25 per cent generally speaking, and that'll be on cars and all other things," Trump told reporters at a White House Cabinet meeting.
The EU is the US's third largest trading partner alongside China. Trump has said he will impose 25 per cent tariffs on the US's two largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico, next week. Trump claimed that the European Union has "taken advantage of" the United States.
On February 27, the President announced an additional 10 per cent tariff on imports from China, saying Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is still flowing in the United States. The drug starts its journey in China and enters the US through Canada and Mexico.
