Howard Lutnick Admits Under Oath That He’s Only Sold One Trump ‘Gold Card’ Visa for $1M — After Claiming On a Podcast He’d Sold 1,000 of Them

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick admitted under oath to only selling one of President Donald Trump’s “Gold Card” visas for $1 million — after he claimed to have sold 1,000 of them on a podcast last year.

The president signed an Executive Order for the creation of the Gold Card program on September 19, 2025. It officially launched in December of that year as a fast-track lane for wealthy elites able to “gift” their way to U.S. residency with a $1 million contribution.

Lutnick openly admitted to The Financial Times that he could not stop pitching the investor visa to foreign dignitaries and business leaders globally — before the visa initiative even officially launched.

In March 2025, Lutnick boasted to the All-In Podcast that he had already sold 1,000 “Gold Card” visas at $5 million each.

But, while under oath Thursday to testify before the House Appropriations Subcommittee regarding the proposal for the 2027 Commerce Department budget, Lutnick admitted to a different number when asked how many applications and gifts have been approved to date.

“The process was recently resolved with DHS who runs the program, and they do a $15,000 – the most serious vetting and analysis of any potential applicant in the history of government – usually it’s $600, these pay $15,000 for an extraordinary vet,” he said. “So, they have approved recently one person, and there are hundreds in the queue that they are going through the process.”

In an apparent bid to justify the number, he emphasized the newness of the program.

“This is a new program, and they just set it up, and they wanted to make sure they did it perfectly, and so we worked through that,” he said. “But it’s a DHS program done with a rigorous, rigorous vet.”

On how the department will spend the “billions of dollars in the gift account,” Lutnick said the Trump administration will make that determination with the terms being “for the betterment of the United States of America” and for Commerce.

Watch above via Forbes Breaking News.

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