'Can’t help myself': Trump official pitches foreign dignitaries on plan to 'sell citizenship'

President Donald Trump, on his Truth Social platform, is promoting TrumpCard.gov — a website for his Trump Card, which can be purchased for $5 million. The president's critics are attacking the Trump Card as a scheme for "selling green cards."

But Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a close ally of the president, is one of the Trump Card's leading cheerleaders. And according to Financial Times reporter Alex Rogers, Lutnick promoted it during a trip to the Middle East in May.

Rogers reports, "Nearly 70,000 people have signed up for the new golden Trump Card, a visa scheme led by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick that will grant foreigners legal residency in the U.S. at a cost of $5mn…. On Monday morning, Lutnick said his department’s internal online dashboard showed 67,697 people on the waiting list. Within an hour, the number had jumped to 68,703."

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According to Rogers, Lutnick "said the initial idea for the visa came from billionaire Trump donor John Paulson as a way to raise revenue for the U.S. and help it pay down its $36tn debt."

On June 17, Rogers posted his Financial Times article on X, formerly Twitter, and noted, "During the MidEast trip in May, Howard Lutnick concluded convos with foreign dignitaries with a pitch for the Trump Card. 'Whenever I meet with international executives, I always go through it with them and sell it to them,' Lutnick tells @FT. 'I can't help myself.'"

Rogers' reporting is receiving a lot of reactions on X.

X user Stephanie Cheney tweeted, "What the almighty f---."

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Another X user, Kathleen Stiles, wrote, "Will he now start hawking the new mobile phone service. All of them are despicable."

Attorney Diego Rodriguez commented, "The selling of American integrity is now out in the open."

X user Everett Batter posted, "Interesting to see business priorities paired with diplomacy."

Wendy Patterson wrote, "Rich Arabs don't have to sneak into our country. Trump is selling it to them for $5 million each. With Citizenship they can run for Congress and Governors. Lutnick talked Trump into this."

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Read Alex Rogers' full article for Financial Times at this link.