About a month into his second term, Donald Trump unveiled plans for a visa program that he said would be similar to green cards “but at a higher level of sophistication.” The president added that the point was to allow “very high-level people” to enjoy a new route to American soil while giving the government $5 million.

Late last year, the Republican administration launched the program, making Trump “Gold Cards” available for international consumers. For just $1 million, foreigners can buy their way into the country, jumping the line, and legally live and work in the United States without fear of deportation.

So how’s the project going? The Associated Press reported:

President Donald Trump’s ‘gold card’ visa, where a foreigner can shell out at least $1 million to legally live and work in the U.S., has been approved for one person, said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Thursday — appearing to fall a bit short of an earlier claim.

The secretary didn’t identify the one individual who’d ponied up the $1 million.

It appears, in other words, that the vaunted program is off to a rather slow start, which is problematic for a couple of reasons.

First, Lutnick acknowledged the single “gold card” transaction during a congressional hearing, when he was under oath and faced consequences for lying. During a recent podcast appearance, however, the beleaguered commerce secretary boasted about having sold 1,000 “gold cards” immediately upon making them available to international buyers.

Around the same time, Lutnick also claimed that the Republican administration had made $1.3 billion from the program.

How does the secretary explain the gap between his public boasts and his sworn congressional testimony? The AP report added, “Lutnick did not address the apparent discrepancy.”

Imagine that.

Second, let’s not forget that at a White House Cabinet meeting last year, the president told reporters that by his estimation this program could generate “$50 trillion.”

With one sale of a $1 million card, it will probably take several millennia before the windfall reaches the $50 trillion mark.

It’s also worth noting for context that just two months ago a coalition of immigrants working with an academic labor union filed a lawsuit against the “gold card” initiative, which may very well create a new headache for the White House. Watch this space.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

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