SerpApi.Org
MARIETTA, Ga. — President Donald Trump touted new savings accounts for children, calling them transformative wealth builders as he sought Wednesday to convince voters pessimistic about the economy that Republicans have padded their pocketbooks.
“We had the best economy in history in my first term,” he told a crowd packed into risers in a high school gym in this suburb north of Atlanta. “But this economy is ready to blow everything away.”
Trump pointed to a high-performing stock market and the lowered price of eggs, new private-sector investments and a June inflation report that showed prices rising more slowly. He pledged that oil prices, which have jumped since the war with Iran, are “going to come tumbling down.”
He also called “affordability” — a leading concern for voters — a word “made up by the Democrats.”
But investment accounts that give newborns a stake in the stock market, Trump said, were perhaps the “most consequential” piece of last year’s Republican tax and spending law.
“It’s beautiful because it takes care of our youth. It’s called the ‘Trump accounts,’ and it’s hot as a pistol,” he said.
Trump’s speech comes in the lead-up to November’s midterm elections, when Republicans will be fighting to keep control of the House and the Senate. Georgia features a key Senate race in which Republicans have been hoping to unseat Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff, who has been leading in recent polls.
Republicans hope to convince voters that the GOP’s tax and spending policy — which included Trump accounts, extended income tax cuts, temporary tax breaks for tips and overtime and more, along with cuts to social services — has materially improved their lives. As part of that effort, they have started calling the law the “Working Families Tax Cut” instead of the One Big Beautiful Bill, as Trump had originally labeled it.
The Trump accounts program offers a $1,000 one-time deposit in new investment accounts for children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028. Other children under the age of 18 can also create accounts, but they won’t receive the federal investment. All qualifying children must have a Social Security number.
The accounts work much like an IRA. The money belongs to the child when they turn 18 and can be used with no penalty for certain purchases, such as higher education or a first home. Otherwise, they cannot be accessed tax-free until retirement age.
Cash contributions will automatically be invested in SPYM, the lowest-cost S&P 500 exchange-traded fund, though four other exchange-traded funds are expected to become available.
Unlike other children’s investment vehicles, Trump accounts allow employers and nonprofit organizations to contribute, increasing the potential for lifetime growth. Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson of Georgia said at the rally that the state would match the federal donation if he was elected. Jackson, a billionaire, said that if the legislature rejects a measure to fund the accounts, he would personally donate the money.
Some Democratic politicians have long proposed a similar “baby bonds” idea pegged to a family’s household income.
Trump has touted the potential that if families, employers, charities and governments add money beyond the initial federal deposit, a child could end up with a large sum by the age of 18.
Without additional investment, the White House estimates a newborn’s $1,000 investment would grow to $6,000 by 18.
Larger gains are likely to go to children whose families have the means to invest more, economists who have studied the program note.
About 86 percent of open Trump accounts are linked to families earning less than $200,000 annually, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
Left-leaning economists have criticized the program for exacerbating inequities because wealthier families will have more ability to invest in the accounts. They also note that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that created the accounts cut funding for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which help low-income families. Early-childhood advocates have pushed for automatic enrollment to boost participation.
The $1,000 federal deposit is a useful benefit, said William McBride, chief economist at the Tax Foundation, but it is unlikely to reach low-income families who aren’t already investing unless children are universally enrolled.
“That is the way you reach this community — there’s a large community of people that don’t even file taxes, they’re off the grid,” McBride said.
The Social Security Administration has said it will assist parents in signing up as part of assigning children Social Security numbers, though parents still have to opt-in.
About 7 million accounts have been created to date, according to the administration, 1.7 million of which are eligible for the $1,000 seed fund. Nearly $1.5 billion has been deposited in the accounts in the last 18 days since the program launched, according to the Treasury Department.
Some parents have reported waits between setting up the accounts and receiving the initial investment. The Treasury Department contends that it is closely tracking fund settlement timelines and that nearly every parent who has signed up for Trump accounts has received their initial $1,000 transfer within one to two days.
Republicans hope the Trump accounts will give them something to point to as they fight strong headwinds in the midterm campaign. Americans give the president negative reviews for his handling of the economy, driven in part by the war with Iran and oil disruptions that have pushed up gas prices.
Sixty-five percent of U.S. adults said they disapproved of Trump’s handling of the economy in a Washington Post-Ipsos poll conducted July 8-13, while 33 percent said they approved. The president’s overall approval and disapproval ratings held steady at 37 percent and 61 percent, respectively.
Only 1 in 5 respondents said they believed the economy will improve over the next year, and a new high of 43 percent said they are not as well off as when Trump returned to office, on par with views toward the Biden administration.
The poll also showed that Republican voters are not as motivated to go to the polls this fall as their Democratic counterparts.
Inflation slowed in June as gas prices dropped, but they started climbing again in July after the administration’s agreement with Iran fell apart.
Core inflation (which strips out volatile food and energy prices) remained the same, an encouraging sign for economists that inflation is cooling, though it remains higher than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent.
Meanwhile, wage increases are on par with price increases — one of the strongest underlying factors in how people feel about the economy.
