Trump's Gold Card Program: Retaining Top Indian and Chinese Talent in America with New Immigration Initiative

US President Donald Trump has unveiled a new "Trump Gold Card" program designed to eliminate what he described as a "ridiculous" system forcing skilled international graduates to leave America after completing their education. During his announcement, Trump expressed concern that students from nations like India and China must depart the US after graduating from prestigious universities, highlighting how this new immigration initiative would enable American companies to hire and retain such valuable talent.

Speaking from the White House, Trump emphasized that the new visa program would provide American firms with "certainty" when recruiting highly trained international students, many of whom currently face extended immigration challenges despite graduating at the top of their class.

"It is a gift of getting somebody great coming into our country, because we think these will be some tremendous people that wouldn't be allowed to stay. They graduate from college, you have to go back to India, they have to go back to China, they have to go back to France. They have to go back to wherever they came from. Very hard to stay. It's a shame. It's a ridiculous thing. We're taking care of that," Trump stated.

The president announced that the Gold Card website is now operational, allowing companies to "buy" the Gold Card to retain students they hire from elite American institutions such as Wharton, Harvard, and MIT.

Trump mentioned conversations with Apple CEO Tim Cook and other executives who expressed frustration about being unable to hire graduates from top colleges due to uncertainty about retaining these individuals in the country. He described how students are essentially "thrown" out of America after graduation.

"You graduate number one from your college, and there's no way of guaranteeing... that they're able to stay in the country." Trump noted that Cook had specifically raised this "real problem" with him.

The Trump Gold Card is structured as a visa based on an individual's capacity to provide substantial benefits to the United States, and is being promoted as a pathway for immigrants to achieve US citizenship.

"It's not going to be a problem anymore. As you know, they used to send people up to Canada and other places, other countries. So we solved that," Trump remarked, adding that through the Gold Card program, the United States will generate billions of dollars that will benefit the country.

"So it'll be a great thing. We'll take in, I think, billions of dollars, many billions of dollars even. So that's very exciting," he added.

Trump emphasized that companies will be pleased with the Gold Card, which offers greater advantages compared to a green card that provides permanent residency in the US.

United States Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick detailed that individuals could obtain the Gold Card for $1 million, while corporations could purchase one for $2 million. For companies, the card would allow them to retain employees who undergo "full vetting, the best vetting the government has ever done."

Lutnick explained that the vetting process would cost $15,000 and ensure candidates "absolutely qualify to be an American, absolutely qualifies."

Once approved, employees would have a path to citizenship after five years, Lutnick stated. A company could then "put someone else on the card," enabling businesses to rotate foreign employees through long-term, employment-linked residency. "It's a gift to the United States of America... to help America be great again under Donald Trump," he added.

Lutnick clarified that the Trump Gold Card falls within the framework of already approved visas, ensuring that only "great people" enter the country. He noted that the average green card holder earned less than the average American and was "more likely to be on the dole and on federal assistance programmes than average Americans."

"And the idea is from President Trump; he wants to raise it and bring in the best people into America. So same visas, but now just full of the best people," Lutnick concluded.