Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump cares a great deal about things with his name on them. One of them is the new "Trump accounts"—accounts that can be opened for babies born in the Trump v2.0 period in which the government deposits $1,000 as a nest egg. Employers and others may also make deposits. Trump's newest gimmick is to have rich people make deposits to these accounts. While this is not a personal grift (Trump does not get a cut here), if in 18 years the recipient gets a lot of money from his or her Trump account, they are likely to think well of Trump. If some of them later become historians, in polls of historians on "worst president ever," they may be more inclined to give top honors back to James Buchanan, thus improving Trump's legacy. While Trump doesn't care about his legacy as much as he cares about stroking his ego, he surely knows it is not going to be great and if someone else is paying to improve it, that's fine.
The first rich person to put some money in all the Trump accounts is Michael Dell, who has pledged $6.25 billion to be spread over all the Trump accounts. This will probably be about $250 each. Hedge fund manager Ray Dalio was next up, with a promise of $75 million for Trump account holders in Connecticut, where he lives. Both "gifts" come with conditions. Trump is also "pressing" (when Mafia dons "press" someone, usually a different word is chosen) companies to make Trump account donations. So far, Visa, Mastercard, Charter Communications, and BlackRock have "volunteered" to make donations. Trump is also "urging" states to contribute to the accounts.
Of course, if the Democrats get the trifecta in 2028, they could foil Trump by renaming the "Trump accounts" something else—for example, "Freedom accounts."
Will the parents of every newborn immediately run to the bank after leaving the hospital to open a Trump account for junior? Maybe not so fast. The tax benefits aren't actually that good, especially compared to other savings vehicles like 529 accounts. Also, there are conditions attached to withdrawing the money at 18 and the funds taken out are taxable. Congress' official scorekeepers estimated that the Trump accounts would cost the government about $15 billion in lost revenue in all, a smaller amount than the no-tax-on-tips program. In other words, they do not expect a lot of demand for the new accounts. (V)