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The White House rolled out a major immigration initiative today as President Donald Trump revealed that the long-promised Trump Gold Card application portal is now operational. Announcing the launch on Truth Social, he proclaimed, “THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT’S TRUMP GOLD CARD IS HERE TODAY! A direct path to Citizenship for all qualified and vetted people. SO EXCITING! Our Great American Companies can finally keep their invaluable Talent. Live Site opens in 30 minutes!”

The idea behind the initiative emerged earlier this year, taking shape in September when Executive Order 14351 formally introduced a new investor-based immigration track. Designed to accelerate permanent residency for applicants with substantial financial means, the program describes itself as a “fast-track” route for affluent individuals seeking a U.S. Green Card.

At the signing ceremony, President Trump underscored the program’s financial promise for the country, remarking, “We’re taking in hundreds of billions of dollars. The Gold Card will be taking in hundreds of billions of dollars, and companies will be able to keep some people they need. They need people of expertise, great expertise.”

While the Gold Card is the centerpiece, the system is tiered. Alongside it stands a corporate version geared for employers and, above both, a top-tier Platinum Card that adds significant benefits for the highest investors.

Applicants entering through the individual Gold Card lane must submit a one-time $1 million “gift,” a non-refundable contribution, along with a separate $15,000 processing fee payable to the Department of Homeland Security. Fees vary by tier, but all require substantial capital commitments.

Companies hoping to secure quick immigration clearance for prized employees can obtain a Trump Corporate Gold Card at a cost of $2 million plus the same $15,000 DHS processing fee. This corporate card is transferable, allowing firms to reassess staffing needs by shifting the benefit to another employee with only a 5% transfer charge and a new DHS background check.

At the top end, the Trump Platinum Card demands a $5 million payment in addition to standard processing fees. Its most notable perk is the ability for its holders to remain in the United States for up to 270 days each year without U.S. taxation on income earned abroad. Additional minor State Department charges may apply across all tiers.

With the website now active, applications officially opened on Wednesday, greeting prospective applicants with the pitch: “Unlock life in America.” Current instructions outline the steps:

Visitors begin at https://trumpcard.gov/, where individuals may choose between the Trump Gold Card and the forthcoming Trump Platinum Card, while employers can opt for the Trump Corporate Gold Card. At present, the Gold Card and the corporate version are live, while Platinum remains marked “coming soon.”

After choosing a program, applicants are guided to supply detailed personal information, including name, contact information, birth details, citizenship status, home address, and number of dependents. Once the form is complete, users proceed to checkout, where the DHS processing fee is listed as $15,375. Credit card payments incur an added 2.5% charge.

{Matzav.com}

QUEENS: Major MVA involving an NYPD cruiser and a school bus at Union Turnpike and Main Street. Multiple children and two NYPD officers were injured, including one officer with serious trauma. Hatzalah Queens responded with over a dozen EMTs and paramedics, including four ambulances, treating the injured. FDNY EMS is also on the scene.  

The BPJCC and JCCGCI hosted a pre-Chanukah luncheon event in honor of Boro Park’s Holocaust survivors. The gathering, organized specifically for women, took place on Tuesday, December 9, at the BPJCC’s new community center. Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser, popular author and Rav of Khal Bnei Yitzchok shared words of inspiration with attendees. “With the support of Metropolitan […]

A teacher walking toward a Jewish day school in Miami Beach was assaulted in what authorities are investigating as a possible hate crime, prompting an intensive police operation that ended with one person taken into custody Wednesday afternoon. The attack occurred Tuesday morning just steps from the Lehrman Community Day School, along the 500 block […]

On “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” Border czar Tom Homan addressed allegations of immigration fraud involving Rep. Ilhan Omar and the investigation into the matter.

WATCH:

The Supreme Court on Wednesday struggled over how courts should decide borderline cases of whether convicted murderers are intellectually disabled and should be shielded from execution. There was no clear outcome apparent after the justices heard two hours of arguments in an appeal from Alabama, which wants to put to death a man who lower […]

A deep sense of grief has spread through the Gateshead yeshiva community following the sudden passing of the esteemed maggid shiur, Rav Shlomo Steinhaus zt”l, who served for decades as a R”M at Yeshivas Tiferes Yaakov. He was 77.

Rav Steinhaus had been seated at his table this morning, fully immersed in preparing his daily shiur. His Gemara, pen, notebook, and magnifying glass were beside him as he reviewed the material for his talmidim. In the midst of this, he suddenly collapsed. Emergency responders rushed to the home and made every effort to revive him, but tragically, he passed away.

Rav Steinhaus had been a central pillar of Yeshivas Tiferes Yaakov since its founding, shaping generations of talmidim with unwavering dedication. As the most veteran R”M in the yeshiva, he was known for his exceptional diligence, clarity in teaching, and heartfelt commitment to transmitting Torah and yiras Shomayim.

This marks the second tragedy to strike the yeshiva in recent months. In Tammuz, the community mourned the loss of Rav Moshe Chaim Dinner zt”l, the mashgiach of Yeshivas Tiferes Yaakov, who passed away at the age of 48 after battling illness.

Yehi zichro boruch.

{Matzav.com}

An Austrian regional hospital has dismissed a senior physician after he allegedly invoked Auschwitz while discussing an overweight patient, triggering internal whistleblowing, staff revolt, and a public outcry over the normalization of Nazi-era language inside a state medical institution. The incident occurred at Landesklinikum Horn, a major regional hospital in the Waldviertel region of Lower […]

Israel’s Ambassador Danny Danon offered a sweeping, hard-edged assessment of Israel’s security landscape and diplomatic horizon during a one-on-one conversation with Arutz Sheva — delivered in the brief window between two meetings with newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz. Danon said the whirlwind tour he and Waltz conducted along Israel’s borders was intended to give the incoming Trump administration an unfiltered view of the dangers Israel continues to confront.

Danon described their shared visit to the Gaza periphery — including a stop with the family of fallen soldier Ran Gvili, whose remains are still held by Hamas — as a stark reminder of why the organization cannot be permitted to retain power. “Hamas will not stay here. Period. With all due respect to reconstruction and humanitarian issues, the main focus should be on the fact that Hamas cannot stay in power in Gaza,” he declared.

Pressed on whether President Donald Trump’s eagerness to move swiftly on diplomatic initiatives might produce pressure on Israel, Danon argued that Trump’s own plan provides clear guardrails. He emphasized that the document itself requires Israel to secure the release of every hostage before any political process moves forward. “When you read the resolution and the initiative of President Trump, it says very clearly that the next stage will be after all the hostages are back home and we are going to insist on this point that all of them must come back home,” he said.

Aerial assessments of the Golan Heights brought Waltz face-to-face with the volatility simmering along the Syrian frontier. Israeli troops attempted to apprehend a terrorist in Quneitra during the visit, though the suspect fled. Danon used that moment to stress that Israel will not allow Syria to become a repeat of Lebanon. “We want to see results on the ground. We learned the lesson. We saw what happened in Lebanon. We made a mistake allowing Hezbollah to build their forces on the border. We are not going to repeat that mistake on the Golan Heights. We will not allow those militias to build their presence, their bunkers, tunnels on the Golan Heights.”

Regarding Lebanon, Danon said Hezbollah’s attempts to rebuild under cover of a ceasefire are unacceptable, and that Israel expects Beirut to take real action — not simply issue statements. “The Lebanese government are talking about efforts to neutralize, but we want to see actions. It’s not enough to declare. If they will not take the necessary steps, we will have to step in and neutralize. We are not going to wait forever for the Lebanese government,” he warned.

Danon added that Washington would not fault Israel if it is forced to intervene. “If Lebanese will deal with that, that’s okay. If they will not deal with us, our colleagues in DC will understand that we have no other choice,” he said.

On the diplomatic front, Danon brushed aside recent European-backed attempts at the UN to advance Palestinian statehood as hollow political theater. He said the moves “has no meaning” and thanked the United States for opposing them, while accusing Spain, Norway, Ireland, and Slovenia of amplifying “anti-Israel propaganda at the UN and in the EU,” even amid the Gaza ceasefire.

Despite ongoing military operations, Danon said he sees Arab and Muslim countries edging closer to Israel in unprecedented ways. “I can feel it and I see that Muslim leaders and leaders from the Arab League are getting closer to Israel. We have better dialogues and I think it will happen sooner than later. I’m very optimistic about it. I know that President Trump it’s on his agenda to make it happen and I believe it will happen very soon.”

When asked whether future normalization — including with Saudi Arabia — might hinge on Palestinian statehood, Danon pointed to the existing peace treaties with Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco, none of which required the establishment of a Palestinian state. He argued that Arab leaders understand there is simply “no viable partner” within the Palestinian leadership, citing Hamas’s rule in Gaza and dysfunction inside the Palestinian Authority.

Danon praised Ambassador Waltz — a former U.S. Army Green Beret commander — as “a friend of Israel, of the Jewish people, very committed, very knowledgeable,” noting that his military background gives him an instinctive sense of the stakes Israel faces. “The fact that we actually have to fight for our freedom and that’s what we are doing for the last 24 months the entire n20ation fought. we called the reserves, 400,000 people showed up. He gets it.”

{Matzav.com}

A new LendingTree analysis paints a stark picture of the rental landscape in New York, revealing that no major metro saw a sharper escalation in the cost of a one-bedroom apartment over the past several years.

Though longtime residents hardly need a data report to remind them of the city’s punishing housing costs, the findings quantify just how sharply rents have climbed. While the typical increase across 50 major U.S. metros between fiscal years 2021 and 2026 was $457, New York’s one-bedroom Fair Market Rent soared by $854—jumping from $1,801 to $2,655.

Fair Market Rents, the federal metrics HUD relies on to set assistance thresholds, reflect what a standard, decently maintained unit costs at roughly the 40th-percentile level in each region. And by that measure, New York’s trajectory has been the steepest in the nation.

San Diego came in a distant second, with its one-bedroom benchmark increasing by $817 over the same period, rising from $1,642 to $2,459.

Across all surveyed metros, the typical one-bedroom rent climbed from $1,122 in FY 2021 to $1,578 in FY 2026—a 40.7% rise that has left many households stretched to the limit.

The report underscored the burden these jumps have created, describing them as a “massive strain” on renters. As the study put it, “The reality for most renters is that their wages have likely not kept up with these rent increases,” referencing U.S. Treasury data showing that 90% of Americans live in counties where housing costs have outpaced wage growth from 2000 to 2020.

{Matzav.com}

it is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of the esteemed Breslover mashpia, Rav Binyamin Zev Knopelmacher zt”l, after years of illness. He was 75.

Rav Knopelmacher was regarded as one of the most influential spiritual guides in Breslov, and for decades, thousands sought out his brocha, counsel, and heartfelt encouragement. His gentle manner, clarity of thought, and ability to uplift struggling souls made him a beloved figure whose impact reached far beyond his immediate circle.

He was born in Denmark to his father, Rav Yitzchak Knopelmacher zt”l, and was raised and educated in the Vizhnitz institutions of Torah and chassidus. In later years, he drew close to the Breslov community, where he eventually became one of its leading and most respected mashpi’im.

Countless individuals streamed to his home seeking advice, spiritual direction, or simply a word of inspiration. He devoted himself to strengthening avodas Hashem among the younger generation, instilling within them the pathways of Breslov with sincerity and warmth.

Faithful to Breslov tradition, he traveled annually to Uman for Rosh Hashanah to spend the Yom Tov near the tziyun of Rebbe Nachman.

Rabbi Knopelmacher leaves behind a family of children and grandchildren who follow the path of Torah and mitzvos.

Yehi zichro boruch.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli officials told Channel 12 News they were outraged by Islamic Jihad’s announcement on Tuesday claiming that the terror group had “handed over all hostages in its possession.” Coordinator for Prisoners and Missing Persons Gal Hirsch sent intelligence findings to the mediators, including aerial photographs and names of parties who are likely aware of the […]

CBS News appointed Tony Dokoupil as anchor of the “CBS Evening News” on Wednesday, charging him with taking on ABC’s dominant David Muir on one of the flagship shows for broadcast television. Dokoupil, who has been part of the “CBS Mornings” team since 2019, will start his new job on Jan. 5. He replaces the […]

Federal officials have taken a significant step toward implementing the new federal scholarship tax credit (FSTC), a program poised to reshape K–12 education funding nationwide and open the door to billions of dollars in private scholarship support. Agudath Israel of America on Wednesday applauded an announcement from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the […]

FLATBUSH: Three suspects were arrested by the NYPD, with assistance from Flatbush Shomrim volunteers at Quentin Road and East 21st Street, following a brazen gunpoint robbery in Flatbush, where the suspects crashed their vehicle on the sidewalk and fled on foot before being caught after a brief chase; an NYPD officer was injured during the […]

A large fire broke out tonight at the Right-Bank Market building in St. Petersburg, Russia. Local reports say at least two people have been injured.

Ukrainian SBU sea drones (USVs) struck the Comoros-flagged Russian shadow fleet tanker “Dashan,” in the Black Sea, marking the third tanker hit in two weeks.

Security video shows the moment a 10-year-old boy jumps out of a stolen SUV in Kenner, Louisiana.

Video captures the shocking moment a car zoomed by several airplanes on a busy taxiway at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California.

Rabbi Efrem Goldberg, Senior Rabbi of the Boca Raton Synagogue, released the following statement after meeting with Dr. Ali Al Nuaimi, Chairman of the Defense Affairs, Interior & Foreign Affairs Committee of the UAE: I had the privilege of meeting with Dr. Ali Al Nuaimi, whose leadership, vision, and courage continue to bring light to […]