White House admits Trump's big gold card boast is bogus in new court filing
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he sits next to a "Trump Gold Card" sign, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 19, 2025. (REUTERS/Ken Cedeno)

The White House has been struggling to sell its highly priced gold card visa that only the wealthy can afford, according to new court filings revealed in a Washington Post report on Wednesday.

Just 165 people have paid the non-refundable $15,000 fee to start processing the application, according to legal filings. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick admitted last week that only one person has paid the final $1 million fee to secure the gold card.

The gold card, branded with Trump's face, is supposed to allow any foreign national who can afford its $1 million fee to enter the country. Pundits have joked that the lone customer who secured one so far is Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump has described the visa as a "green card on steroids," and his administration has reported that it has reeled in $1.3 billion, the Washington Post reported.

The White House admitted in legal filings that it has hardly attracted suitors. The administration has received 338 requests for the gold card. Last February, Trump said that 250,000 people were in line for the special visa, and that thousands had paid the $15,000 fee to start processing, the Washington Post noted.

Just 59 of the 165 applicants who paid the $15,000 fee so far have started paperwork, the filings reveal.