President Trump delivers in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 21. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

President Trump announced Tuesday the administration plans to offer $5 million “gold cards,” which grant individuals permanent U.S. residency.

The big picture: The new system would replace the existing EB-5 program, a system launched in the 1900s to offers green cards to individuals who invested in the U.S., and serve as a route to citizenship, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

• It wasn’t immediately unclear whether the administration could terminate or change the existing program without congressional approval.

Driving the news: “We’re going to be selling a gold card” and that it would bolster the economy,” Trump said, adding that he believes it will bolster the economy.

• “Wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card, 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.”
• The U.S. could sell 1 million or more of the “gold cards,” Trump said.

Between the lines: By potentially eliminating the EB-5 program and replacing it with the so-called “gold card,” the new program would effectively let the wealthy buy their way into the U.S. without having to create jobs or build businesses.

• In that sense, it differs from many “Golden Visa” programs around the world, which usually at least require the purchase of real estate or some other domestic investment. Some do allow residency by charitable donation, or opening a bank account.

Zoom in: The minimum investment needed under the U.S. plan would also be one of the most expensive such programs in the world, per firms that specialize in helping arrange visa deals for the rich.

• The new offer continues an early theme of the Trump administration, which is that money is the way to dispense with the usual rules — as when he promised anyone investing $1 billion in the U.S. would get all their permits expedited.

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