Trump rings opening bell for Trump Accounts as Treasury commits $1.4 billion in seed money
For the first time in history, a president rang the opening bell at the Oval Office, and Trump did so to champion the launch of Trump Accounts.
Overview
Monday marked a historic day at the White House for two reasons: it was the first time a sitting president rang the opening bell of the stock market from the Oval Office, and the occasion was used to mark the launch of Trump Accounts, the new children’s investment program at the center of the administration’s economic messaging.
President Donald Trump rang the bell jointly for the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq (that itself a first, since the two exchanges had never opened trading together) surrounded by Cabinet officials, CEOs and the Dell billionaire family behind the largest private gift to the program.
Ahead of the bell-ringing, Treasury Department officials disclosed on a call with reporters that more than 6 million children have signed up for Trump Accounts since enrollment opened earlier this year, and that 1.4 million of them are eligible for the $1,000 federal seed deposit—a total of roughly $1.4 billion in government money already earmarked for the accounts.
“On launch day, eligible children who have activated their account saw their $1,000,” one Treasury official said on the call. “Other contributions will be invested after that, on the sixth. On the Fourth of July, the market was obviously closed.”
Officials described the $1,000 deposits as “a seed fund from the U.S. Treasury, effectively [falling] down from the government as appropriated in the Working Family Tax Cuts” passed last year.
The remaining balance of the 6 million-plus sign-ups includes children who registered but don’t qualify for the $1,000 pilot deposit because they were born outside the window Congress set, from Jan. 1, 2025 through Dec. 31, 2028.
Reaching kids the federal deposit doesn’t cover
Families can put their own money into the accounts too, and Trump said in February that a child could accumulate $270,000 by age 18 if a family maxes out annual contributions.
Given this potential for building wealth, much of the call centered on how Treasury plans to get money into the hands of families who fall outside the federal government’s own $1,000 pilot program.
Details
This includes the roughly 25 million children covered under Michael and Susan Dell’s $6.25 billion pledge to seed accounts with $250 each for kids 10 and under in ZIP codes with median incomes below $150,000.
Meanwhile, the Treasury Department booked billboards nationwide to spread the message about Trump Accounts “to make sure that this program has the reach into those communities.”
“We will have some exciting brand partnerships coming up for announcements, as well as some other ways to reach families who have just had newborns and babies in medical facilities,” the official said.
So far, up to 20 states are exploring ways to fund the accounts themselves, just as additional outreach has been made to encourage employer matches. Treasury had named the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF as the default investment for every account, a low-cost index approach in line with Warren Buffett’s longtime advice to everyday investors.
A historic bell ringing
In addition to Michael and Susan Dell, Monday’s Oval Office ceremony drew Altimeter Capital CEO and Invest America founder Brad Gerstner, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, SEC Chair Paul Atkins, NYSE President Lynn Martin and Intercontinental Exchange CEO Jeffrey Sprecher, among others.
“This is about the Trump Accounts, which are absolutely incredible for children,” Trump said at the event, adding that the administration deposited $1,000 seed contributions into more than 500,000 children’s accounts on July 4 alone. “Children that are born without money … they can become very wealthy children at 18.”
Trump also used the moment to plug Dell Technologies directly, saying “Go out and buy a Dell computer,” which then led to the company’s shares jumping more than 7% following his remarks.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Source
Originally published at fortune.com.
