Late-Night Personalities Lampoon Trump's Controversial 'Gold Card' Visa Program

Television's leading comedians spent their evening mocking former President Donald Trump's just launched visa initiative, called the "golden visa," describing it as a obvious cash-for-residency system for the wealthy.

Stephen Colbert's Sarcastic Spin

Kicking off his show, Stephen Colbert offered a sardonic Christmas song directed at the president. "He's making a list, reviewing it twice, then handing that list to the officials at ICE," he sang. "Donald Trump ... spoils everything he touches."

The focus was the controversial plan which permits international citizens to purchase U.S. residence for the price of a million dollars, with a "top-tier" tier for $5 million. A government portal guarantees approval "in record time."

"A quick message for you to wealthy applicants: prior to you pony up, what about Canada?" Colbert remarked.

He explained that the card is also meant to "get cash" from firms wanting to hire foreign workers, with hefty fees. "That's a lot of fees, however if you register, you additionally get a complimentary stay at a hotel of your selection – as long as it's the that one hotel," he said.

"The best screening the government has before done," remarked Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, "that $15,000 vetting to make sure these people absolutely are eligible to be in America."

"That is important, you have to prove you're qualified 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 own show, Jimmy Kimmel referred to the visa program the "American Dream Express Card."

"This is a card that will allow wealthy overseas citizens to live here," he explained. "In exchange for a million bucks, you get legal resident status, you get a pathway to citizenship, and a presidential pardon for one major crime of your choice."

"It might be time to revise that poem on the Statue of Liberty – never mind your huddled masses. Give us a million bucks, you're in!" he joked.

Kimmel teased the brevity of the application, noting it is "harder to start a Wordle account." He said that Trump "sees citizenship is something you can sell, like a condo."

"That's right, the top people are the rich people," Kimmel quipped. "That'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 covering Economic Issues

Elsewhere, Seth Meyers addressed Trump's plunging approval numbers during economic worries. "People gave Donald Trump a second term since they were upset about the economy," he noted.

This week, in a bid to address cost of living, Trump conducted a briefing in front of a array of food items, where he reacted oddly to boxes of cereal.

"Lovely packaging, I think I'm going to take some of them with me to my place and have a lot of fun," Trump stated. "Such as the Cheerios, I haven't seen Cheerios in a while."

"Trump is so incredibly weird," Meyers responded. "What do you mean, you're going to take them back to your cottage to have a lot of fun with them? What's the plan with those Cheerios?"

Meyers finished by mocking right-leaning news coverage of Trump's economic performance. "Perhaps instead of voicing concerns, you should give him a sparkling trophy like what FIFA did," he laughed.