Trump Accounts: The Defining Policy of America’s 250th Anniversary
Secretary Scott Bessent
January 28, 2026
Introduction
Thank you, Speaker Johnson, for that kind introduction. It’s an honor to be here with all of you.
President Donald Trump will be remembered for many things:
The President who enacted the largest tax cut in history for American citizens.
The President who rebalanced global trade to the benefit of working families.
The President who, through simple common sense, saved our country by securing the border.
In short, the President who Made America Great Again.
But arguably his most enduring legacy—the program that will not only transform lives now but ripple across generations—is why we are here today.
History will remember President Trump as the leader who brought financial market opportunity to all American families. It will remember him as the President who oversaw the largest merger in history between Main Street and Wall Street. And it will remember him for redefining the social contract through the creation of a shareholder society.
And how did he achieve all this? Through Trump Accounts.
Trump Accounts are among the most significant policy innovations of modern times. They mark a singular moment in economic history by expanding the benefits of private ownership and compound growth to all Americans. Today, I will explain where Trump Accounts came from, how they work, and why they will render socialist notions moot by making every citizen a shareholder.
The Origin of Trump Accounts
First, the origin story.
The idea of opening investment accounts for young Americans first arose in the form of “Baby Bonds” decades ago. But the idea was flawed because the accounts could be invested only in US government bonds.
President Trump recognized the shortcomings of this idea while also grasping its promise. So he set out to perfect it.
Working with some of the most talented businessmen in the country, including Brad Gerstner and Michael Dell, he pioneered Trump Accounts—investment accounts that newborn Americans can receive on Day 1. Trump Accounts allow for private ownership, multiple funding pathways, and direct investment across a broad swath of the American economy.
Where President Trump’s predecessors created debt and dependency, President Trump creates assets and expands ownership. This is a signature characteristic of his presidency.
How Trump Accounts Work
With Trump Accounts, every American child born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, is eligible to receive a $1,000 contribution from the Treasury Department that will be immediately invested in an index fund. To claim this investment, most families need merely check a box on Form 4547, the most aptly named tax document of all time. We are just three days into the 2026 tax filing season—and already, approximately 500,000 Americans have elected to open a Trump Account for their children.
The compound growth from Treasury’s initial seed funding alone stands to make young Americans wealthy. Assuming historical growth rates continue, a single $1,000 deposit into a Trump Account at birth should grow to an estimated amount of at least half a million dollars by the age of retirement.
The $1,000 seed from Treasury is exclusive to newborns. But keep in mind that any American below the age of 18 is also eligible to receive a tax-advantaged Trump Account to begin saving for the future. Philanthropists, family, friends, employers, and states can backfill Trump Accounts for these children to help them build a strong financial foundation before graduating high school. Our objective is to provide every American child with a Trump account. And the men and women in this audience will help make that possible.
In addition to the $1,000 seed from Treasury, there are three other channels for funding Trump Accounts: first, through the donations of parents, friends, and employers; second, through the generous donations of wealthy Americans and philanthropic organizations; and third, through donations from state governments.
Funding through Family, Friends, and Employers
President Trump wanted to make it especially easy for family, friends, and employers to give to Trump Accounts. And he has succeeded in that goal. Donations to a Trump Account will soon be the best gift a child could ever receive.
Starting July 4—our nation’s 250th anniversary—family, friends, and employers will be able to contribute up to $5,000 to each Trump Account each year. By contributing the maximum amount annually, the Council of Economic Advisers estimates that a child’s Trump Account could be worth more than $1 million at age 28 and tens of millions by the age of retirement.
Donations from employers are essential to bringing the President’s vision to life. Already, we have seen a large number of US businesses across a wide range of industries step up to support Trump Accounts.
Companies like Charles Schwab, Uber, Charter Communications, Bank of New York Mellon, State Street, Mastercard, Visa, Block, Robinhood, SoFi, Chime, Russel Investments, and Dell Technologies have all announced that they will match employee contributions to Trump Accounts in a variety of forms that work best for their employees. And today, Steak ‘n Shake, Broadcom, Intel, IBM, JP Morgan, Chipotle, Coinbase, and Comcast all announced that they will offer matching contributions as well. The President foresees a day where matching contributions to Trump Accounts will be as integral to an employee benefits package as a matching 401(k).
Through Trump Accounts, our President is putting the American Dream within reach of every citizen, no matter the circumstances of birth. When young Americans turn 18, they can use their Trump Accounts to keep saving for their retirement. Or they can use them to help purchase a new home or further their education—two hallmarks of the American Dream.
Funding through Philanthropists and Charitable Organizations
The next means of funding is through generous donations from wealthy Americans and charitable organizations. Consider how Trump Accounts are revolutionizing not only investing but philanthropy as well.
The United States is the most generous country in the history of the world. In 2024 alone, our citizens gave over half a trillion dollars to charity. That’s more than the GDP of advanced countries like Singapore, Austria, and the UAE.
Many Americans want to give back to their fellow citizens through charitable donations. But our country has long lacked a platform of private ownership from birth that facilitated philanthropy at-scale direct to American children.
Not anymore.
Trump Accounts are the most capital-efficient form of philanthropy ever devised.
Typically, middlemen, overhead costs, and administrative expenses dilute the money Americans donate to charity. But Trump Accounts remove those obstacles entirely to put money directly in the hands of American children.
That’s why America’s savviest capital allocators have devoted enormous sums of wealth to seeding Trump Accounts.
Michael and Susan Dell led the way by pledging to donate $6.25 billion of their own money to help fund Trump Accounts for 25 million children under the age of 10. Ray and Barbara Dalio then followed suit by pledging $75 million to help fund Trump Accounts for more than 300,000 children in Connecticut.
The Dalios were among the first to join “The 50 State Challenge”—a special initiative Treasury has launched to rally the nation’s philanthropists around a common cause. As the President said in his remarks earlier today, the 50 State Challenge is a crucial element of this revolutionary program. Expect to see more philanthropists adopting states in the months to come as the Administration prepares to launch Trump Accounts on the Fourth of July.
Funding through States
The final way of funding Trump Accounts is through state governments.
The administration has been working closely with a number of governors to determine the best way states can work with the federal government to expand access to Trump Accounts to as many children as possible. States are the laboratories of our democracy, and their experiments with Trump Accounts will surface the best methods for funding over time.
Why Trump Accounts Mark A Singular Moment in Economic History
At their core, Trump Accounts represent the triumph of capitalism over socialism.
Socialism left in its wake a trail of economic ruin, all in pursuit of the belief that abolishing private ownership would lead to greater equality and human flourishing. In fact, the opposite was true.
The last century of economic history showed us that the answer was never to abolish private ownership; it was to democratize it. To protect, strengthen, and expand it to as many people as possible so that everyone can benefit from the prosperity only capitalism can provide.
Trump Accounts do exactly that. They collapse the distinction between earners and owners by making everyone an owner—all while keeping ownership private. In the decades-long contest between capitalism and socialism, this is the Trump card.
Redefining the Social Contract
Through Trump Accounts, our President is creating an ownership economy where all citizens become shareholders in America’s wealth. Today, 38% of American adults do not own stocks. But with Trump accounts, over time, we can get that number down to zero.
I have talked in the past about the importance of promoting Parallel Prosperity—an era of economic expansion where Wall Street and Main Street grow together. But the beauty of Trump Accounts is that prosperity no longer runs parallel; it fuses together. Under Trump Accounts, Wall Street’s success becomes Main Street’s success and vice versa. This is the greatest merger in world history, the merger of Wall Street and Main Street. And it will forever change the relationship Americans have with their own economy.
Trump Accounts represent a fundamental redefinition of the social contract. They offer a radically new platform that returns us to a social contract anchored in individual ownership where everyone starts life on an investing journey.
Creating Laboratories of Financial Literacy
Trump Accounts also create a real-time laboratory of financial literacy for all Americans.
Consider an alarming statistic: Approximately two-thirds of Generation Z Americans fail to answer more than half of the basic financial literacy questions on the Nation’s Personal Finance Index. We need to better educate the generation of Americans being born now. Trump Accounts will give us an opportunity to correct course by instilling financial literacy in America’s youth in a way no book, test, or school curriculum could.
Trump Accounts will achieve this goal by providing students with a hands-on education in the power of compound growth. Students with Trump Accounts will be able to watch their investment accounts compound in real time—from a value of a couple thousand dollars in kindergarten to potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Importantly, students will not be able to access their accounts during this time. Keeping accounts locked until age 18 will require Americans to learn the art of long-term savings and compound growth. States, philanthropists, and charitable organizations can also tie funding of individual Trump Accounts to students passing financial literacy courses. This flexibility creates space for states, philanthropies, and educators to innovate and identify what works best in building financial skills.
Conclusion
Three pillars of America’s social contract are embedded in the Declaration of Independence: “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Few know that Jefferson borrowed this phrase from John Locke, who famously underscored the centrality of “life, liberty, and property.”
Property and the pursuit of happiness, in other words, are deeply intertwined—and for our Founding Fathers, they were one and the same. Property, or put another way, ownership is essential to dignity and human flourishing. This was the ideal our nation was founded on in 1776. And it is the ideal our nation is being re-founded on in 2026.
In that sense, Trump Accounts are the defining policy of America’s 250th anniversary. By expanding equity ownership to all citizens, President Trump is restoring the promise of our Founding, revitalizing the social contract, and helping secure American prosperity for the next 250 years. All families can participate and own part of the American Dream.
And with your help, we will succeed.
Whether you are a philanthropist, a family member, or an employer, all of you here will play a critical role in this effort. So join us in growing economic opportunity, future-proofing capitalism, and carrying the promise of the Founding forward for the next century. Join us by investing in Trump Accounts.
Thank you.
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