Melania Trump's own lawyer snubs president's 'legally dubious' project

President Donald Trump’s Gold Card, a visa program for wealthy immigrants, has been so “legally dubious” that even First Lady Melania Trump’s former lawyer is advising wealthy foreigners against pursuing it, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

“It would be unethical of me to retain them,” said immigration attorney Michael Wildes, who previously represented the first lady, speaking with the Post about his inclination to discourage wealthy immigrants from pursuing Trump’s Gold Card.

First announced in February of 2025, Trump’s Gold Card officially launched last September, and at a cost of between $1 million and $5 million, grants holders permanent resident status and a pathway to full U.S. citizenship. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed last year that at least 1,000 Gold Cards had already been sold before being forced to admit last month while testifying under oath that only one had been sold.

Wildes, who in 2016 refuted claims that Mrs. Trump had illegally immigrated to the United States, said that he occasionally receives calls from prospective clients inquiring about the Gold Card, but that most are from those “who have not previously navigated immigration law,” the Post reported, and that “each time, Wildes directed them to other programs.”

Wildes is not the only attorney steering wealthy immigrants away from pursuing Trump’s Gold Card. Immigration attorney Rosanna Berardi, according to the Post, has “made the professional decision not to accept cases” in which wealthy immigrants are inquiring about the Gold Card.

“As immigration counsel, our obligation is always to protect our clients’ interests, and we do not believe it is appropriate to recommend a program with such significant legal uncertainty and financial risk, even when clients express a desire to proceed,” Berardi told the Post.

Another immigration attorney, Mona Shah, took an even harsher tone, and condemned the Trump administration’s messaging around the Gold Card – specifically, that the visa program had a quick processing turnaround – as “false advertising,” and warned her clients that “their Gold Card applications might go nowhere,” the Post reported.