Donald Trump’s namesake savings accounts are being amended to permit donations of individual company stocks—a change the administration says will boost the tool's wealth-building capabilities but which has raised concerns among others. The administration says 70 million Trump Accounts have now been created for American children, up from under 10 million thanks to a successful automatic enrollment process. On Wednesday, an event was held to celebrate this achievement at the White House, which said that the accounts are “already investing billions of dollars for American children.” “Since their launch on July 4th, more than $4.5 billion has been deposited into Trump Accounts, including $1.3 billion in $1,000 seed contributions, over $600 million in direct contributions from family and friends, and $2.6 billion in philanthropic gifts—with more on the way,” it said in a press release.
As well as auto-enrollment, the government is also opening up the way that these accounts can be funded, moving to allow donations of individual stocks to millions of children. Michael Dell—the billionaire founder and CEO of Dell Technologies and one of the strongest supporters of the accounts—appeared at Wednesday’s event alongside his wife, Susan, and defended the change in a subsequent interview with Yahoo Finance. Dell, whose net worth stands at around $280 billion per the latest Forbes estimates, called criticisms of the change “nonsense,” and argued that this would encourage even more wealthy philanthropists to donate to children's Trump Accounts.
Newsweek has contacted the Treasury Department via email for comment on the rule change. Authorized through the president’s signature tax bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Trump Accounts are a new type of tax-advantaged savings vehicle for American children. These permit up to $5,000 in annual contributions, with savings growing tax-deferred until the owners make withdrawals—only possible once the child turns 18.
The accounts of those born between January 2025 and December 2028 are also being seeded with $1,000 from the Treasury Department, and dozens of companies have pledged to match this federal donation or their employees’ contributions. Back in July, the administration had been looking at ways of auto-enrolling all children in the accounts, with one official telling Newsweek the ultimate goal was to have “every American child own a Trump Account." And Trump on Wednesday celebrated this “historic” achievement, saying the auto-enrollment meant that 70 million accounts had now been created, and called this “a step to ensure every American child has a fair shot at the American Dream.” Elaine Maag, codirector and senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, told Newsweek on Wednesday that auto-enrollment would help to ensure that those who historically signed up for such programs at lower rates—such as children in lower-income households—could participate. "By switching to automatically opening accounts, this initial problem is solved, and children at least have the opportunity to have money deposited in the accounts by others," she said.
The change was floated in July by the Treasury, which said it was planning to accept “large philanthropic contributions of readily tradable public company stock to support Trump Accounts.” Shortly following the July announcements, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said that she and her husband would gift company stock to over two million children aged 11 to 17 in areas “with lower average household incomes with a bit more emphasis for those that live near our central Texas home.” Under the new rule, which appeared on the Federal Register in late September, publicly traded companies may donate stock directly to the accounts. This marks a shift from earlier guidelines, which stated that accounts could only be invested in qualified mutual funds or exchange-traded funds that track the U.S. stock market. Account owners or their parents are unable to select the stocks, which Treasury officials say “must generally be held for five years.” Donations cannot be refused, though the government is fielding comments on this mandatory holding period and other changes.
The Treasury has argued that the legislation authorizing the accounts did not prohibit donations, however, including individual company stocks. In December, the pair pledged $6.25 billion to put $250 into Trump Accounts of children under 10 living in income-eligible zip codes, and who were ineligible for the $1,000 federal contribution. They have also appeared several times alongside T
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