President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that every eligible child in America has been automatically enrolled in a federal investing account. But in touting the initiative at an Oval Office event, the president and his allies gave the impression those kids spend more time in a boardroom than a classroom — referring to them as “owners,” “shareholders” and “capitalists.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who championed the project, turned to the sixth- and seventh-graders present in the Oval Office and inventoried their holdings.
“You’re going to be owners. You guys now own part of Apple. You own part of Dell computers. You own part of McDonald’s,” he said.
The program, Cruz said, is “creating a whole new generation of capitalists.”
Trending
He suggested children tell family members to skip the “ugly sweater” for their birthdays and put $50 into their accounts instead.
The investment accounts for minors, written into the tax code as section 530A and launched July 4, are branded Trump Accounts in the app parents must use to claim them. The Treasury Department has opened one for every child under 18 with a Social Security number, with over 60 million created automatically.
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said having an investment account means that each child “owns a share in one of the biggest popular companies in America.” The takeaway, he said, is that “when the U.S. wins, they win too.”
IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank Bisignano, who also leads the Social Security Administration, described the program as a venture. “This is a start-up that will have 70 million children in it,” he said, adding that its operators “have access to every family in America.”
Bisignano said over 10 million accounts were funded with $4.5 billion, figures he expects to reach 25 million accounts and $7 billion by the weekend. That is “25 million American children who now have a piece of capitalism,” he said.
Much of that money is from the Dell family. Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell said he and his wife, Susan Dell, had funded 10 million accounts at $250 apiece and would hit the 25 million mark in the coming days, fulfilling a $6.25 billion pledge.
“These children will grow up as owners,” Dell said Wednesday.
The Dell money goes to children born between 2016 and 2024 who live in ZIP codes where the median household income falls below $115,000, according to the Invest America website.
Family, friends and employers cannot add anything until a parent claims the account through the app, and nothing can be withdrawn until the child turns 18.
The $1,000 federal deposit is only available for citizen children born between 2025 and 2028, and a parent must claim the account before the child can receive it.
The announcement lands four weeks before the midterms. The Trump Accounts represent the third promise of money to Americans the White House has publicized in recent weeks, after $500 refunds to roughly 1 million people the administration says were overcharged under the Affordable Care Act during the Biden administration, and a proposed $5,000 dividend contingent on Republicans retaining control of Congress.
Trump said the children “are now, and they will be in the future, extremely rich,” and are “going to be riding the markets.”
Author
