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Trump 'gold card' visas, House budget resolution & Maine's governor

Plus: German firefighters once thought sprinkler helmets were a good idea

Author

Izz LaMagdeleine
March 01, 2025

SATURDAY EDITION

Snopes Debunker

A blue image that says VISA is underlaid with yellow.

What to know about Trump's proposed 'gold card' visas — and whether they can bring in $50 trillion

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump introduced the idea of a "gold card" visa — a $5 million visa that would give the buyer a path to U.S. citizenship. Trump said: "If you sell 10 million of the cards that's a total of $50 trillion. Well, we have $35 trillion in debt. That would be nice, we will see."

Of course, Trump's plan hinges on buyers for the visas. There are varying estimates of how many people in the world have a net worth — the value of assets owned by an individual minus their liabilities — high enough to buy a Trump "gold card" visa at the $5 million asking price. Additionally, the visa could potentially make it more difficult for high-net-worth individuals to gain citizenship in the U.S. Snopes reporter Laerke Christensen reports.

A white person wearing a lab coat holds a pen in their left hand and a paper in their right hand. They sit across from someone else.

Unpacking claims that House budget resolution cuts Medicaid by $880B

The House of Representatives passed a budget resolution establishing the congressional budget for the fiscal year 2025.

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Support Snopes With Our Monthly Membership

Snopes has been busy fact-checking political claims. But we look into claims on every topic, not just politics. For instance, one of our favorite fact checks that published this week showed how German firefighters once thought sprinkler helmets were a good idea, which we feature later in this newsletter. We need your help to keep doing this far-ranging work. By building our membership, we will be able to continue cutting straight to the facts on any subject our readers are interested in. We appreciate any support you can give.

An image shows 3 cards that say SOCIAL SECURITY.

No, DOGE didn't discover Louisiana man using 34 different names to collect Social Security benefits

Social media users shared the claim in the form of a meme featuring a photo of Elon Musk holding a chainsaw.

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No, Maine's governor didn't say state would stop paying federal taxes

Gov. Janet Mills released two statements addressing Trump's threat to withhold federal funding, but neither mentioned federal taxes.

A white man wearing a black suit smiles in front of breast implants and penile prostheses.

Breaking down rumors that Musk has a penis implant

The rumor spread as the tech magnate was continuing efforts to reshape the U.S. government.

Staff Pick

A black and white image shows a sprinkler helmet pictured in front of a photo that shows a crowd of people.

German firefighters once thought sprinkler helmets were a good idea

The German sprinkler helmet has been fodder for bemused media reports for over a century.