At a rally on Wednesday, President Donald Trump touted the $1,000 babies can receive if their parents open a Trump account in their name. According to Trump, the starting capital should give them “a really fair chance at the American dream.”
The featured video is from a previous report.
“Think about it. The government is finally giving money back to our children,” Trump told the crowd gathered at a Georgia high school
RELATED: How the $1,000-per-baby ‘Trump accounts’ would work and who would benefit the most
Some parents who opened accounts for their babies earlier this month say they are still waiting for their money. The accounts went online on July 4, two days before Trump rang the opening bells for the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq from the Oval Office.
The tax-advantaged accounts can be opened to any child under 18, and more than 7 million accounts are already active, Trump said Wednesday. Babies born between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2028 will receive $1,000 in seed funding from the U.S. Treasury. Most of these families will receive their $1,000 within a day or two, the Treasury Department said.
After Trump accounts are set up, parents, relatives, friends and employers can contribute to them. Some billionaires have also pledged charitable contributions to the accounts. The money is given to private companies that invest it in index funds, a type of investment fund that tracks the performance of the stock market. The money can only be accessed at age 18 and only for certain purposes, such as going to school, starting a business or buying a house.
At Wednesday’s rally, Rick Jackson, Georgia’s GOP candidate for governor, said he would push for state lawmakers to double the federal government’s $1,000 seed fund. Jackson, a wealthy businessman and CEO of a health care company, said he believes Georgia lawmakers would support it, but “if not, I will personally donate it.”
Proponents of the program say it’s a chance to allow more Americans to participate in the stock market. They hope it will curb the growing popularity of democratic socialists who want to raise taxes on corporations and wealthy people to lower the cost of food and health care for low-income and middle-class Americans.
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Some parents were told the deposit could take four weeks
Babies born since Trump took office last year will receive $1,000 from the U.S. Treasury to open accounts. While some parents report receiving the money, others said in interviews and on social media that they are still waiting for their $1,000.
Masaki and Kristina McLellan, new parents from Bergen County, New Jersey, said in an interview that they were wary of signing up for the accounts because they feared it was a publicity stunt for the president. But the $1,000 incentive convinced the couple, whose daughter Maya was born in late March, to open an account anyway.
Masaki McLellan said he applied for the account on July 6. The application was initially rejected, but the account was activated after he called the Trump account hotline. He was told he would see the money in the account in ten days. Now, he says, he’s been told it will take up to four weeks.
Kristina McLellan said she was disappointed it took so long to fund her daughter’s account. But the child already has several other investments that are compounding for him. Maya’s parents have already set up a 529 college savings plan and a custodial brokerage account for her. The Trump account is the third investment account in the little girl’s name.
“We definitely want to give her options for her future and make sure she can choose what she wants to do,” said McLellan, a studio manager for a local news station who returns from maternity leave next week.
The Treasury emphasized that McLellan’s case was unusual and said only a small proportion of applicants needed customer support.
According to the Treasury Department, most parents only wait a day or two
The Treasury said the delay between opening an account and receiving the seed funding represents a “normal processing time like receiving a tax refund” and that the overwhelming majority of parents only have to wait one to two days. However, the department is happy to give parents a conservative estimate of how long it might take for the money to be transferred, such as the estimate of up to four weeks that the McLellans gave.
“Trump accounts level the playing field by allowing all parents to invest in their children’s futures, not just wealthy families with trust funds,” the department said.
The government also unveiled an initiative last month that would allow child welfare agencies to open accounts in the names of foster youth.
“With approximately 1 million sign-ups per month prior to launch, Trump accounts have become the most popular and successful government-sponsored savings product in U.S. history,” the Treasury Department said.
On Wednesday, Trump called the accounts “the most consequential” part of his tax and spending cuts bill, also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
Trump is under pressure over his handling of the economy
Trump’s stop in Georgia comes as he and his fellow Republicans come under pressure in the midterm elections over their handling of the economy. According to a June poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, just 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s economic leadership, among the poorer ratings of his second term. Trump promised to cut costs, but his tariffs and the war in Iran have instead helped drive up prices.
Trump accounts are similar to baby bonds promoted by Democratic-run cities and states to narrow the wealth gap between low- and high-income children. But unlike most baby bonds, which generally target children from disadvantaged backgrounds, Trump accounts are available to families of all incomes.
The program has been criticized by those who say it does not help families in the early years of a child’s life, when children are most likely to suffer from poverty, homelessness and hunger. And the Republican bill that created the program also cut funding for programs disproportionately used by children, including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
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