Former prime minister Joseph Muscat commented on the United States’ new golden card scheme, one eerily similar – in name and function – to Malta’s controversial golden passport scheme.“The American government is launching a programme allowing international investors who pay $5 million to obtain a Residence Permit and have a clear path to Citizenship and a Passport,” Muscat wrote on Facebook.“President Donald Trump announced the programme yesterday. I’ll stop here.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lovin Malta (@lovinmalta)Malta’s golden passport scheme allowed foreigners to purchase EU citizenship in exchange for investing more than €690,000 into the country. This was a controversial move with fellow European countries, as well as the Union, largely condemning it.The European Commission had taken legal action, arguing that this scheme breached Malta’s duty to sincerely cooperate. It was pushing for Malta to terminate the scheme however the EU’s top court dismissed these concerns and allowed the system to keep operating.It concluded that it’s up to member states to decide who is entitled to be one of their nationals and, as a consequence, who is an EU citizen. Malta is the last remaining golden passport scheme within the bloc, after Cyprus scrapped its procedure in 2020, and Bulgaria in 2022.Yesterday, Trump floated the idea of replacing a visa program for foreign investors with the gold card that could be bought for $5 million dollars.What’s your take on Muscat’s comment?•