Assistance from Claude AI. For a fact-check of major claims, see Trump Unveils “Gold Card” Immigration Program at Tech CEO Roundtable.
Summary
President Donald Trump hosted major technology CEOs at the White House on December 10, 2025, announcing the launch of the Trump Gold Card—a premium immigration program allowing corporations to pay $2 million (or individuals $1 million) to secure permanent pathways for highly skilled foreign workers, addressing long-standing complaints from tech companies about losing top talent after graduation. The roundtable featured announcements of massive U.S. investments including Michael Dell’s $6.25 billion contribution to child savings accounts and commitments totaling hundreds of billions in AI infrastructure, data centers, and semiconductor manufacturing. Trump also revealed the seizure of a large Venezuelan oil tanker, discussed ongoing Ukraine peace negotiations with European leaders, and criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell while announcing he would meet with potential replacement Kevin Warsh. The president touted $18 trillion in secured investments during his first ten months, 51 stock market record highs, and claimed credit for bringing inflation and gas prices down while defending his administration’s regulatory cuts and economic policies.
Participants
- Donald Trump – President of the United States
- Howard Lutnick – Secretary of Commerce
- Michael Kratsios – Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)
- Michael Dell – Founder and CEO, Dell Technologies
- Arvind Krishna – Chairman and CEO, IBM
- Cristiano Amon – President and CEO, Qualcomm
- Antonio Neri – President and CEO, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- Enrique Lores – President and CEO, HP Inc.
- Bruce Mehlman – Executive Director, Technology CEO Council
Detailed Meeting Breakdown
Trump Gold Card Immigration Program Launch
President Trump opened the meeting by announcing the imminent launch of the Trump Gold Card, a new immigration program designed to address tech industry concerns about retaining highly skilled foreign graduates. The program represents a significant departure from traditional visa approaches, essentially creating a premium pathway for talented workers to remain in the United States.
Under the program, corporations can pay $2 million to secure a Gold Card for an employee, while individuals can purchase one for $1 million. All revenue from the program flows directly to the U.S. Treasury. Secretary Lutnick explained that each cardholder undergoes “$15,000 vetting to make sure these people absolutely qualify to be an American.” After five years of maintaining good standing, Gold Card holders become eligible for citizenship. For corporations, the card can be reassigned to a new employee once the original holder becomes a citizen, allowing companies to continuously sponsor top talent.
Trump framed the program as solving a critical problem for American businesses. “I’ve heard from Tim Cook of Apple and I’ve heard from a lot of people, some of the people at this table, that essentially in the United States, you can’t keep the student,” Trump said. “You can’t hire people from the best colleges because you don’t know whether or not you can keep the person.” He described how graduates from top schools like Wharton School of Finance, Stern Business School, Harvard, and MIT are often forced to leave the country after graduation despite being recruited by major companies.
The president characterized the Gold Card as “somewhat like a green card, but with big advantages over a green card.” Companies can now recruit from top universities with certainty that they can retain talent, addressing what Trump called a “ridiculous thing” where “they graduate, number one from your college and there’s no way of guaranteeing that they’re able to stay in the country.”
Trump noted that companies previously sent employees to Canada and other countries to work remotely due to visa restrictions, but the Gold Card eliminates this workaround. The program officially launches approximately 30 minutes after the roundtable began, with applications available online.
Michael Dell’s $6.25 Billion Contribution to Trump Accounts
The meeting featured significant discussion of the Investment America Act and associated Trump accounts—a program providing government-funded investment accounts for newborn children. Michael Dell announced his foundation’s $250 million (initially stated as $6 billion, then clarified as $6.25 billion in various contexts) contribution to expand the program beyond what the government initially funded.
Dell explained the program’s structure: “The government would give $1,000 to a newborn baby in an account that they would own and it would go in essentially the S&P 500 and compound. And when the child becomes 18, they can use that money to go to college, to buy a home, to start a business, to continue saving.”
The Dell contribution specifically targets children who wouldn’t be covered by the initial government program. As Dell described: “We would give $250. We arrived at $250 because next year will be the 250th birthday of America and 25 million children.” The foundation focused on children 10 and under living in ZIP codes with median incomes below $150,000, ensuring the funds reach families who need them most.
Several companies at the roundtable committed to matching the government’s contribution for children born to their employees. Dell indicated that additional major gifts would be announced, with some contributions targeting specific states. He noted having “spoken with a few that will be announcing gifts at the state level and more to come.”
Trump praised the initiative enthusiastically: “It’s amazing the vision you have, but that’s why you’re so successful frankly. And to think that Michael started off with not a lot of money, I would say, right, not too much, like very little, and he can give a gift of $6.25 billion.”
Technology Investment Commitments
The roundtable served as a platform for tech CEOs to announce massive U.S. investment plans, collectively totaling hundreds of billions of dollars in manufacturing, AI infrastructure, and research facilities.
IBM’s Arvind Krishna committed to $150 billion in investments. Michael Dell indicated Dell Technologies’ involvement in “several hundred billion dollars” of investment when accounting for partnerships with American semiconductor companies adding capacity.
Antonio Neri of Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced $3.5 billion in additional secure manufacturing investments over the coming years. He detailed plans to build “the largest five supercomputers that will keep United States ahead of the game, both in life science and AI, but also to keep ahead owning the entire stack of the national security level” within the next 18 months. HPE builds supercomputers for both the Department of Defense and Department of Energy.
Enrique Lores of HP Inc. stated his company invests approximately $18 billion per year in the U.S., projecting close to $100 billion over the next five years. HP focuses on bringing AI to consumer devices—PCs, headsets, and everyday technology—rather than just data centers.
Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm discussed his company’s expansion beyond mobile phones into automotive chips (supplying “every car company in the world”), robotics, smart glasses (“the future of mobile devices”), and industrial manufacturing technology. He emphasized Qualcomm’s role as a customer of new U.S. semiconductor fabs being built by TSMC and Samsung.
Trump repeatedly emphasized the scale of these commitments, contrasting them with the previous administration. “Joe Biden secured just really much less than $1 trillion of new investments in four years and in 10 months, we secured more than $18 trillion,” Trump claimed. “So 18 times the amount in 10 months, what they did in four years and they would have gone negative.”
Venezuelan Oil Tanker Seizure
Trump announced at the meeting’s outset that the U.S. had “just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large, the largest one ever seized, actually.” He indicated that officials would provide more details to the press later but confirmed the seizure occurred “for a very good reason.”
When pressed by reporters for more information about the tanker’s ownership and the oil’s destination, Trump deflected. “We’ll get that information later,” he told one reporter, then added, “Well, we keep it, I guess” when asked what would happen to the oil. When a reporter asked which port the tanker would go to, Trump suggested: “You’re a good newsman, just follow the tanker. Follow it, get a helicopter and follow the tanker.” He later confirmed, “I assume we’re going to keep the oil.”
The president provided no additional context about the legal basis for the seizure or its connection to U.S. policy toward Venezuela, though he mentioned having spoken previously with Nicolas Maduro but not since their last conversation.
AI Leadership and Regulatory Approach
Trump emphasized his administration’s commitment to maintaining American dominance in artificial intelligence, outlining a regulatory philosophy designed to support rather than constrain tech innovation.
“Our administration is committed to total dominance in technology,” Trump stated. “Right now, we’re leading artificial intelligence by a lot.” He stressed the importance of keeping AI regulation at the federal level: “We’re writing rules, regulations. We want to keep it at the federal government level so it’s simple for the companies, very important frankly.”
The president highlighted the administration’s approach to cutting regulations, stating they’re “not allowing regulations unless they slash 10 old regulations” for each new one. He claimed the current ratio stands at “1 in 24″—meaning 24 regulations eliminated for every new one implemented.
Michael Kratsios, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, reminded attendees that “the president has been arguing for American leadership in AI well before ChatGPT was even invented.” He referenced a 2019 Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence leadership and the AI Action Plan launched in July with three accompanying executive orders, all designed to “allow for companies like yours to thrive.”
Arvind Krishna of IBM emphasized the importance of promoting the full “AI stack”—not just semiconductors but also software, systems, and applications. He expressed concern about friendly countries’ ability to access American AI technology: “The ability to take those to all our friends in countries, so all the friendly countries is going to be very, very important and we wish to work with your government to make sure that we can do that, because otherwise, we are afraid that competing countries are going to be able to get that stack.”
Krishna specifically mentioned working with the administration to lower barriers for exporting certain systems with semiconductors to approximately “a half dozen” countries where current export controls restrict American companies.
Energy Policy and Data Center Infrastructure
Energy emerged as a critical theme, with Trump and attendees connecting low energy costs to America’s manufacturing and AI competitiveness.
Trump boasted about achieving gasoline prices below $2 per gallon in three states as of the previous day. “We had yesterday three states where oil was at $1.99 a gallon,” he said, contrasting this with prices that reached “$4, $4.50” under the previous administration and “like $7” in California. He argued that falling energy prices are key to controlling inflation: “When you have the prices coming down for energy like that, you’ve killed inflation and you’re lowering prices.”
The president described approving massive infrastructure projects: “I’m giving them approval to, when they build these massive plants that cost $50 billion.” He marveled at the scale, noting that historically “$50 million” could build “a nice little shopping center” and “$500 million” could construct “one of the biggest, most beautiful centers” but now individual facilities cost $50 billion.
Michael Kratsios emphasized energy as “the substrate of manufacturing at the industrial level and really an incredibly important input to the economy. We can’t be competitive without a super low-cost energy industry.” He noted meeting earlier that day with Secretary Wright about energy policy.
Secretary Lutnick connected the administration’s energy policies to economic growth, arguing that driving down energy costs makes building in America more attractive and will “drive the greatest GDP growth led by the tech sector coming home.”
Ukraine Peace Negotiations
Trump provided updates on Ukraine peace efforts, revealing he’d spoken with leaders of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom about the conflict. He characterized the discussions as involving “pretty strong words” and indicated there were “some little disputes about people.”
European leaders had invited Trump to a weekend meeting in Europe, but the president set preconditions: “We said before we go to a meeting, we want to know some things.” He emphasized he didn’t want to waste time: “Sometimes you have to let people fight it out and sometimes you don’t. But the problem with letting people fight it out is you’re losing thousands of people a week.”
Trump cited casualty figures, claiming “27,000 soldiers were killed” in the previous month—”Russian and Ukrainian soldiers.” He used a vivid comparison: “If you take a football game and take half the stadium, that’s 27,000.”
Regarding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump suggested he needs to “be realistic” and raised questions about democracy in Ukraine. “I do wonder about how long is it going to be until they have an election. You know, it’s a democracy. It’s a long time. They haven’t had an election in a long time,” Trump said. He mentioned an 82% polling figure: “There was a poll came out, 82 percent of the people are demanding a settlement be made, Ukrainian people, they want to see a settlement be made.”
The president also raised corruption concerns: “They do have a massive corruption situation going on there. And they do say when are they—people are asking this question. When do they have an election? Are they going to have an election or are they going to just keep it going like this?”
Trump expressed confidence about resolving the conflict: “I think it’s a war that can be settled, but it takes two to tango.” He reiterated his position that the war “would have never started” if he had been president.
Federal Reserve Criticism and Interest Rate Policy
Trump delivered sharp criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, calling him “a deadhead fed hair” and “a stiff.” He argued that despite Powell’s resistance, “interest rates are going down, except with him not too much. He did a rather, I would say, a rather small number that could have been doubled, at least doubled.”
The president outlined his philosophy on interest rates and economic growth, challenging conventional thinking about inflation management. “In the old days, when you announced really good results in this country, the stock market went up. and that’s the way it should be,” Trump said. He criticized the current approach where positive economic news triggers rate increases: “When we announce good results, the market should go up. Now it’s—when you announce good results, Michael, the market goes down because they say, oh, that means things are good. That means we’re going to kill it by raising interest rates.”
Trump argued for higher GDP growth targets without corresponding rate increases: “When you say 3 percent of GDP, or we’re 4 percent of GDP, they should be much higher. So, I wanted to say it, I do say it, I believe it and we have to get a mindset that when a country is doing well, you don’t want to kill the growth.” He pushed back against inflation fears: “Growth doesn’t mean inflation. They’re always afraid that, oh, we have—and if there is inflation, that’s OK, then we can slow it down. But we should be able to do a lot better than 3 and 4.”
The president also argued that U.S. interest rates should be “the lowest in the world because without us there is no world. Without this economy, there’s no world.”
When asked about potential Fed Chair replacements, Trump confirmed meeting with Kevin Warsh that day. “I’m meeting with him and I sort of have a very good idea of what I’m looking for. Again, I’m looking for somebody that will be honest with interest rates. That’s all, I just want honesty,” Trump said. He emphasized he wants rates based on U.S. economic strength: “Our rates should be much lower. Our rates should be the lowest rates in the world.”
Trade Policy and Tariffs
Trump discussed his administration’s trade agreements and tariff strategy as drivers of investment and manufacturing relocation to the United States.
The president listed recent trade deals with the United Kingdom, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, the EU, Malaysia, Cambodia, El Salvador, Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Thailand, South Korea, and “many others.”
He connected tariffs directly to manufacturing reshoring, citing Toyota’s announcement of “$10 billion in plants built” at “various couple of locations” in the U.S. “They’re all coming here. They’re coming here because of tariffs because they don’t want to pay tariffs,” Trump said.
Using Switzerland as an example, Trump noted they “paid almost nothing in terms of a tariff or tax or whatever you want to call it, license. They paid nothing and they’re paying now, they’re paying a fair amount. I had them at 39 percent, but I decided to be nice.”
The president argued these policies drive not just tech investments but broader manufacturing: “We have the biggest number of auto plants planned. Toyota just announced $10 billion in plants built.” He cited companies coming “from Canada, from Mexico, they’re closing up—They’re coming in from Mexico, they’re coming in from Canada, from Japan, from Europe, all over Europe, Germany, all over Europe.”
Tax Policy and Regulatory Relief
Trump highlighted provisions in what he repeatedly called the “Great Big, Beautiful Bill“—the administration’s major legislative package combining multiple policy priorities.
The legislation includes 100% expensing for capital expenditures, allowing companies to immediately deduct the full cost of factories, equipment, and structures rather than depreciating them over decades. “If Michael goes out and builds a factory, you can take it against tax immediately, the whole thing. You don’t have to wait 38 years or do it over a 38-year period,” Trump explained.
The bill extends and expands the administration’s earlier tax cuts, which Trump claimed collectively represent “the biggest tax cut in the history of our country.” It includes provisions for no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security benefits, and no tax on overtime pay.
Trump credited the expedited expensing provision as particularly important to first-term growth: “I think that’s what made the first tax cut, which we, by the way got extended in this tax cut… maybe was the reason that so much growth was gotten in the first term.”
The president also emphasized regulatory relief, claiming the administration achieved a “1 in 24” ratio—eliminating 24 regulations for every new one—exceeding the initially promised “1 in 10” standard.
Secretary Lutnick connected these policies to broader economic benefits: “You’re driving interest rates lower and you’re going to continue to drive them lower. That makes it cheaper. It makes it more exciting to build here. You’re blowing out the regulatory deep state so that people can build here and do it fast.”
Healthcare and ACA Reform
When questioned about Senate Republican healthcare proposals affecting Affordable Care Act subsidies, Trump characterized Obamacare as “the un-Affordable Care Act” and “unaffordable,” claiming “it was always bad. It was basically designed for the benefit of insurance companies.”
The president outlined the administration’s alternative approach: “What we’re doing is we want all of the billions and billions of dollars that went to insurance companies to go directly to the people and they can buy their own health care.”
Trump framed the debate in partisan terms: “The Republicans, I can tell you, want the money to go to the people, and we’re winning that battle, the Democrats are having a hard time with it because they’re in the pocket of the insurance companies.” He suggested specific proposals would provide funds directly to individuals through Health Savings Accounts rather than subsidizing insurance company premiums.
Stock Market Performance and Economic Claims
Trump repeatedly cited stock market performance as evidence of economic success, claiming 51 all-time record highs in the past 10 months. “51 times we’ve hit a new high and in the history of our country, if you think about it, 51 times during the last 10 months,” he said.
The president attributed market performance partly to election results: “A lot of it’s based on the November 5th election result, which was a massive victory. We won all seven swing states, the popular vote. We won the Electoral College by a landslide.” He cited county-level results: “We’re a 2,700 counties against 525.”
Trump argued the country was “considered dead by many leaders throughout the world” a year ago but now has “what’s called the hottest country anywhere in the world.” He claimed this transformation took only 10 months, faster than anticipated.
Regarding inflation, Trump stated he “inherited the worst inflation in the history of our country” (though he qualified this as “48 years” when pressed for accuracy). He claimed to be “bringing the prices down really fast led by energy.”
The president made comparisons to the Biden administration’s investment record, asserting his ten months in office secured “$18 trillion” compared to “just really much less than $1 trillion” in Biden’s four years, characterizing this as “18 times the amount.”
6G Technology and Future Communications
Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm announced plans to accelerate 6G wireless technology development, with a target of launching “first in the world in the LA Olympics” in 2028. He described this as “another opportunity for America to lead in the next revolution.”
Trump engaged with the topic humorously, noting he had been “a leader on 5G, getting that done and now they’re up to six.” He joked about the technology’s capabilities to show detail: “What does that do, give you a little bit deeper view into somebody’s skin, see how perfect it is? I like the cameras the old days, sort of just had a nice feature.”
When asked if the progression ever ends, with 7G following quickly, Amon confirmed, “Yes,” indicating continuous advancement in wireless technology standards.
Crime Reduction Claims
Trump highlighted crime reduction in cities where federal law enforcement has increased presence, claiming dramatic results.
He stated that Washington, D.C. is now safe enough that “people walk down the streets, they go into restaurants at night. It’s beautiful. It’s like this beautiful thing to see, because until I got here, this was a very, very bad place.”
The president cited specific statistics: “Crime is down 60 percent in Memphis, we just got there three weeks ago.” For New Orleans, he claimed, “Crime is down 28 percent in about three days” after sending federal personnel.
Trump expressed frustration about Chicago: “Too bad that we’re not invited more into Chicago because we could save Chicago very quickly… We could stop the crime in Chicago in about two weeks.” He criticized Illinois’ governor and Chicago’s mayor as “both incompetent.”
The president connected these efforts to his administration’s approach to immigration enforcement, mentioning the removal of “murderers, 11,888 murderers. Half of them, almost exactly half of them committed more than one murder.”
Government Modernization Initiatives
Arvind Krishna praised the administration’s government modernization efforts, specifically thanking Trump for appointing Commissioner Frank Bisignano to lead Social Security reforms. Krishna indicated IBM is “working with Commissioner Frank Bisignano to help make Social Security better” and plans to “help them replicate that now at our results” with the IRS.
Trump praised Bisignano’s performance: “He’s had a great career, actually. He left a tremendous career where his salary, I think was 100 times greater than it is now. And he was a JP Morgan Chase and he’s doing a fantastic—he did a great job at Social Security quickly.”
The discussion connected to broader themes about efficiency in government operations and the role of technology in modernizing federal agencies.
Cabinet Defense and Personnel Questions
When asked about media reports of dissatisfaction with cabinet members, Trump strongly defended his team. “I think my cabinet is fantastic. I read the same stories that I’m unhappy with this one or that one and I’m not. I think the cabinet has done a great job.”
He specifically praised Pete Hegseth (Secretary of Defense): “I read a story that I was unhappy with Pete, because he was attacking drug dealers. I said that’s not exactly right. I would say very much the opposite. Pete Hegseth has been phenomenal.”
Similarly for Kristi Noem (Secretary of Homeland Security): “I read a story recently I’m unhappy with Kristi. I’m so happy with her. I mean, we have a closed border. We have a border that’s the best border in the history of our country. Why would I be unhappy? She’s fantastic actually.”
Trump also praised Linda McMahon (Education Secretary), connecting her work to returning education control to states: “We’re bringing education back to the States where it belongs.” He suggested that 35-40 states “will run education as good as Norway or Denmark, Sweden” once freed from federal control, arguing “you can’t run a school system in Iowa from Washington DC.”
Gaza Peace Board
Trump provided updates on plans for a “Board of Peace” to oversee Gaza reconstruction and peace efforts. He indicated announcements would come “early next year” and described it as potentially “one of the most legendary boards ever.”
The composition surprised Trump himself: “Everybody wants to be on it. It’s mostly going to be, I guess, you know, we weren’t thinking about it that way, but they want to all do it. Basically, it’ll be the heads of the most important countries.”
Rather than distinguished private citizens as originally envisioned, the board will apparently consist of heads of state. “The kings and the presidents, prime ministers, they all want to be on the Board of Peace,” Trump said.
CNN and Warner Brothers Discovery Merger
When asked about potential changes at CNN under new ownership if the Warner Brothers Discovery merger proceeds, Trump expressed strong opinions about the network’s leadership.
“I think the people that have run CNN for the last long period of time are a disgrace,” Trump said. He argued it’s “imperative that CNN be sold because you certainly wouldn’t want to put people—just leave those people with some money, good money, and CNN so that they can spend even more money spreading poison because it’s lies.”
The president indicated he might be “probably involved, maybe involved in the decision, it depends” through the antitrust review process. “I just think that the people that have run CNN into the ground, by the way, nobody watches, very few people watch. I don’t think they should be entrusted with running CNN any longer,” he said.
Trump emphasized that any merger approval should ensure “CNN should be sold along with everything else” rather than remaining with current management.
Speaker Mike Johnson Support
Asked about criticism of Speaker Mike Johnson from some House Republicans, Trump offered strong support. “I think Mike Johnson is great. He’s had a majority of two, three, four, then back to two. We actually had one. So, we were one heart attack away from disaster.”
The president emphasized the difficulty of Johnson’s position: “When you have a small majority” yet “we got the biggest bill in the history of our country approved, the Great Big, Beautiful Bill.” He argued this included “the biggest tax cuts in history, the biggest regulation cuts in history, no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime.”
Trump concluded: “I think Mike Johnson has been a great speaker. I think few people could have done that job.”
Midterm Election Outlook
Trump expressed puzzlement about historical midterm patterns where the president’s party typically loses seats regardless of performance. “When you win the presidency, even if you win by a landslide like we did, and even if you do a good job—and some people say we’ve done the best opening 10 months in history, in the history of the presidency, I think we have. Who’s done better?” he asked.
He noted the apparent paradox: “For whatever reason, and nobody’s been able to give me an answer, when you win the presidency, you seem to lose the midterms even if you win the presidency by a lot and you do a great job as president… Usually I can figure things out, but I don’t know why, but that seems to be.”
Despite historical trends, Trump argued: “We should win because we’re doing great. The economy is roaring.” He expressed determination to “try and change that. There should be no reason for it.”
Reference
“Remarks: Donald Trump Holds a Business Roundtable at the White House – December 10, 2025.” Factbase / FiscalNote, 10 Dec. 2025, factba.se.