Late-Night Personalities Take Aim At Trump's Controversial 'Gold Card' Visa Plan

TV's prominent hosts used the evening ridiculing ex-President Donald Trump's newly launched visa initiative, called the "golden visa," portraying it as a obvious pay-to-play system for the wealthy.

Colbert's Witty Analysis

Kicking off his show, Stephen Colbert offered a mock Christmas tune directed at the president. "He is compiling a list, reviewing it twice, before handing that list to the agents at ICE," he crooned. "The President ... destroys all he comes into contact with."

The focus was the controversial initiative that allows overseas nationals to purchase U.S. legal status for an investment of $1 million dollars, or "platinum" tier for $5 million. A government page pledges processing "with unprecedented speed."

"A quick thought for you to rich applicants: before you pay, what about Canada?" Colbert remarked.

He explained that the card is also designed to "squeeze cash" from companies wishing to hire foreign workers, involving significant fees. "That's a lot of fees, though if you sign up, you also get free accommodation at a hotel of your choice – as long as it's the Tampa Marriott Bonvoy," he added.

"Unprecedented background check the U.S. government has ever done," said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, "that $15,000 vetting to verify these applicants completely qualify to be in America."

"That is important, you gotta prove you're suitable to be an American," Colbert responded. "Question one: how many burgers would you eat for a free T-shirt?"

Jimmy Kimmel's Humorous Commentary

On his late-night show, Jimmy Kimmel referred to the visa program the "American Dream Express Card."

"Here's a card that will permit rich overseas citizens to live here," he said. "For a million dollars, you get official resident status, you get a pathway to citizenship, and a president's pardon for one major crime of your selection."

"Maybe it's time to revise that poem on the Statue of Liberty – forget about your tired masses. Give us a million bucks, you're in!" he joked.

Kimmel teased the simplicity of the form, saying it is "more difficult to start a Wordle account." He remarked that Trump "believes citizenship is something you can sell, like a condo."

"Indeed, the finest people are the rich people," Kimmel joked. "It's what Jesus constantly said! Read it in the Bible. He says it's simpler for a camel to go through the eye of a needle provided that you pay the needle a million dollars."

Seth Meyers discussing Economic Concerns

Meanwhile, Seth Meyers addressed Trump's declining approval ratings amid economic worries. "Voters gave Donald Trump a second term because they were mad about the economy," he noted.

This week, in a attempt to address prices, Trump held a briefing in front of a selection of grocery items, where he behaved oddly to some cereal.

"What a nice job, I think I'm going to take a few of them back to my cottage and have a lot of fun," Trump remarked. "Such as the Cheerios, I haven't had Cheerios in a ages."

"He's so extremely weird," Meyers reacted. "Like, you're going to take them home to your cottage to have a lot of fun with them? What are you gonna do with those Cheerios?"

Meyers finished by criticizing conservative news arguments of Trump's financial record. "Maybe rather than voicing concerns, you should give him a shiny trophy similar to the one FIFA did," he laughed.