News blog about US politics
NATO responds to Trump threat against Spain
Updated April 24, 2026 – 11:32 p.mReading time: 11 minutes
The golden ticket to the USA is a slow seller. NATO reacts to a Trump initiative. All developments in the news blog.
According to a spokesman, NATO has no possibility of suspending or expelling individual members. The Reuters news agency reported that the Trump administration was considering suspending Spain. As the BBC reports, citing NATO spokespersons, there is no procedure for suspension or expulsion in the founding document.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt is going on maternity leave. Leavitt, who is expecting her second child, said goodbye to journalists at the White House on Friday. The spokeswoman for US President Donald Trump announced that she would not be giving any press conferences for “a while.” “As you can see, I can have a baby anytime,” she said.
“I know you will be in very good hands with my team here at the White House,” Leavitt said. “And I know you all have the president’s personal phone number,” she added jokingly.
Trump increases the death penalty at the federal level. The Ministry of Justice will also allow firing squads in the future. Read more about this here.
Donald Trump’s “Gold Card” for wealthy immigrants appears to be a slow seller. The US President presented the concept of a right of residence in the United States for one million US dollars with great pomp last December. “It’s basically a green card on steroids,” he said at the time. But now the Ministry of Commerce says that only one visa has been sold so far.
In December, Trade Secretary Howard Lutnick boasted that visas worth $1.3 billion had been sold within a few days. However, this does not match the figures that have now been published, so only one “Gold Card” was awarded. However, Lutnick claimed that hundreds more applications are in the queue and are currently being reviewed. The administration wants to make things “perfect.”
The concept was originally intended as a replacement for the EB-5 program, in which wealthy immigrants received green cards by investing in U.S. companies. But while many countries offer similar “Golden Visa” programs, enthusiasm for the US version appears to fall far short of expectations. This means that the billions in revenue for the US budget that Trump had promised at the demonstration will not come.
