70 Million Children Now Have Trump Accounts as Automatic Enrollment Completes, but Parents Must Claim Them
The Treasury Department says automatic enrollment in Trump Accounts is complete, with about 70 million accounts established for children under 18 since July. Parents still have to claim an account through the official app to manage it and receive the one-time $1,000 federal deposit for eligible children.
Every eligible American child under 18 now has a Trump Account in their name. The Treasury Department announced that automatic enrollment in the tax-advantaged investment accounts is complete, and the White House said about 70 million accounts have been established for children under 18 with Social Security numbers since the program launched in July, according to the New York Post.
President Donald Trump marked the milestone at an Oval Office event on Wednesday alongside Michael and Susan Dell, who have pledged $250 deposits for 25 million children, according to the Post. More than $4.5 billion has been deposited into the accounts since July 4, the report said. Other companies, including Uber, Intel, Nvidia and Steak n’ Shake, have also committed contributions, according to the Post.
Claiming the account is still up to parents
Automatic enrollment creates the account, but it does not by itself hand control to families. A parent or guardian must claim the account through the official Trump Accounts app — verifying their identity and relationship to the child and accepting the account terms — before they can manage it, allow contributions from relatives, employers and others, or receive the government’s one-time $1,000 seed deposit, according to Gray News. Until an account is claimed, the Bank of New York Mellon acts as trustee, according to the Post.
The $1,000 federal contribution is available to U.S. citizen children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, who have a valid Social Security number, according to Gray News. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said more than 60 million additional eligible children now have an account ready to be claimed, calling the completed enrollment a milestone in giving children a way to build long-term savings, according to the report.
Money locked until adulthood
The accounts are structured as long-term savings vehicles, much like the IRA-style accounts many workers already know from how Roth and traditional IRAs differ on tax timing. Funds stay locked until Jan. 1 of the year the child turns 18, after which the money can be withdrawn penalty-free for specific purposes such as buying a home or paying for college, though withdrawals are treated as taxable income, according to the Post.
Before the automatic enrollment, roughly 8 million accounts had been opened voluntarily since July — about 10 percent of eligible children — and newborns will be enrolled when a Social Security number is requested for them, according to the Post.
Reporting based on coverage by the New York Post and Gray News (WVLT).
