‘Even People That Truly Hate Me Are Making This Investment’: Trump Rallies Business Leaders to Fund Accounts for Babies
President Donald Trump rallied business leaders to supplement the thousand dollars that his Administration is giving every American child born between the years 2025 and 2028 in new “Trump Accounts” later this year. In an ebullient event in Washington, D.C., the President joined with a group of celebrities, CEOs, and members of the Administration to stoke support for the accounts, a modernized form of baby bond that can be invested more widely. “Even people that truly hate me are making this investment,” said the President.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]Under the new initiative, which was part of the Big Beautiful Bill, each newborn American will be given what the President called a “beautiful nest egg” of $1,000 as seed funding for an account that will be invested in the S&P 500. No money can be withdrawn from the account until the account-holder turns 18. The hope is that as the American economy grows, the funds will also grow alongside it—and that other parties will throw in some cash too. “Children and young people’s experience is of the power of compound debt and not the power of compound interest,” said Idaho governor Brad Little during the event. “You’ve gotta flip that around.”
To date, several business executives have taken the President up on his request to contribute their own funds to the endeavor, most notable among them Michael and Susan Dell, who have pledged an eye-watering $6.25 billion to cover 25 million children who are too old to qualify for the federal contributions. Once the accounts go into effect on July 5, 2026, the Dells will provide every child from 2 to 10 years old whose guardians activate a Trump Account for them with a $250 deposit, to mark America’s 250th birthday.
“Our studies found that when a child has an account like this, they are way more likely to graduate from high school, to go into college and graduate to buy a home, to not be incarcerated, to be a contributing member of society, and it improves the mental health of both the child and the parent, even with a relatively small sum,” said Michael Dell at the event. “That is why we wanted to participate in this in a big way.”
Read more: Does Your Baby Qualify For a $1,000 Trump Account? Here’s the Latest
Other wealthy individuals who have made commitments include Ray and Barbara Dalio, who have pledged $75 million for more than 300,000 children in Connecticut. Brad Gerstner, the founder and CEO of Silicon Valley–based Altimeter Capital who has been one of the driving forces behind this initiative, has offered to contribute to children’s funds in Indiana. (Gerstner also said he tried to take this idea to the Biden Administration but could not get any interest.)
It’s not just philanthropists. “Donations from employers are essential to bringing the President’s vision to life,” said the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. His department has issued a “50 State Challenge” to get corporations, philanthropists, and states to match or increase the funds for their localities. During the event, Visa announced it would include deposits to Trump Accounts as part of its standard employee benefits and work with banks to figure out a way to donate Visa points. IBM, Broadcom, SoFI, JPMorgan, and Bank of America were among the firms that announced similar benefits.
The mood at the event was giddy, even as the crowd thinned. Bold-faced names got up to spruik the accounts, not just because of the wealth they could create, but as panacea for many of America’s ills. Speaker after speaker emphasized the potential for greater financial literacy and for finally closing the wealth gap. “Every child born in America becomes a shareholder in America,” said Gerstner, and therefore may feel more invested in the country’s welfare. “I could just tell that this is something I wish I would have had access to as a kid and as a teenager growing up,” said Nicki Minaj. A group of moms, including Cheryl Hines and Karoline Leavitt speculated on how much it would help child-rearing, with one speaker suggesting it might increase marriage or fertility rates. “I can’t find anybody, red or blue, that doesn’t like this idea,” said investor and Shark Tank regular Kevin O’Leary.
Only one person at the event mentioned anything about Minnesota, where Trump’s aggressive immigration policies have not met with as warm a reception as this initiative has. Lorenzo Sewell, the senior pastor at 180 church in Detroit, prayed generally for the people of Minneapolis at the opening of the event. From then on, it was all good news.
“Trump accounts are amongst the most significant policy innovations in modern times,” said Bessent. “They mark a singular moment in economic history by expanding the benefits of private ownership and compound growth to all Americans today.” After the gathering—at which Trump spoke for 45 minutes, most of it off the cuff, and not exactly on topic—a Treasury official thanked his staff by saying, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the President have that much fun.”