Trump Announces Automatic Enrollment for All Children Under 18 in Trump Accounts
Parents must claim accounts to manage them and access financial benefits.
President Donald Trump announced the completion of automatic enrollment for all children under 18 into the "Trump Account," a savings account program for youth.
"Since launching in July, nearly 8 million accounts have been created in three months," Trump stated during an announcement event where several children were present in the Oval Office. "With today’s announcement, we’re building on that success by 70 million accounts — or children across America — and they’ll all be enrolled into the Trump accounts. And since July 4th, over 4.5 billion dollars have been deposited in Trump accounts."
The automatic enrollment means that all children under 18 are now registered, but parents or guardians must actively claim the account. Claiming the account is necessary for parents to manage it, allow others to contribute, and for eligible children to receive a one-time federal deposit of $1,000. Any child born during Trump's second term is eligible to receive this contribution.
Children can claim their accounts through the Trump Account mobile app. If an account is not claimed by a parent or guardian, the Bank of New York Mellon will serve as trustee until it is claimed. Previously, the approximately 8 million accounts opened since July represented about 10 percent of all eligible American children.
"There are those that say this is one of the most important things that I will have done," the president remarked about the Trump Accounts initiative.