President Trump unveiled what might be the most pro-natalist economic policy in U.S. history. The UK Guardian ran the terrific and under-reported story headlined, “Trump announces $1,000 government-funded accounts for American babies.”
CLIP: President Trump announces child investment accounts (1:55).
Part of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” it would work like this: Every child born between 2025 and 2029 would automatically receive a special tax-deferred investment account primed with $1,000. The accounts, which track the stock market and allow up to $5,000 in additional private contributions per year, are tax-deferred and guardian-controlled — essentially a junior 401(k) for kids, minus the match and with more patriotic branding.
If parents max out the accounts, their kids will have well over six figures for their educations by the time they graduate high school. Even by just adding $100 a month, it could potentially add up to millions if the child leaves the money in until the mandatory 31-year-old withdrawal date.
The President announced the plan at a meeting with five top U.S. business leaders who together pledged to contribute billions of private dollars to the effort. Dell, Goldman Sachs, Robinhood, and Uber are all joining the program.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who also attended the roundtable, said, “It’s a bold, transformative policy that gives every eligible American child a financial head start from day one. Republicans are proud to be the party we always have been. It supports life and families, prosperity and opportunity.”
Critics complained that other investments are better — a whinge that landed somewhere between clueless and cruel. They’re ignoring the painfully obvious point: most parents, especially young or low-income ones, aren’t in any position to open brokerage accounts for their babies.
This plan would do it automatically. No paperwork, no financial literacy barrier, no need for an investment advisor or a 529 seminar at the community college. Every American child would get a seeded, tax-deferred account indexed to the stock market — growing tax-free from birth.
It’s a starter engine for generational wealth. Critics who scoff that it’s not the “ideal investment vehicle” are like teenagers turning down a free car because it’s not a Tesla Roadster.
The program is Trumpian politics at its best. Democrats champion funding abortions— deleting kids before birth. Trump champions helping every single child born in the U.S. get a financial head start. The two positions could not be more wildly and obviously different, and will push Democrats further into the crevice of political minority.
It also signals an emerging strategy by the President: trickling out popular provisions from the Big Beautiful Bill as it lumbers toward the Senate. He’s not leaving anything to chance. Instead of letting the media define the bill as some abstract budget monstrosity, Trump is drip-feeding the good stuff — letting Americans see exactly what’s inside.
By the time the Senate votes, we will all know exactly what the Senators are supporting — or what they’re trying to kill. So far, we have baby investment accounts, tax relief on tips and social security, and non-citizen remittance taxes. What could be next? Student loan reform? More tax relief? Better border enforcement? Whatever it is, the chessboard is set, and Trump’s moving the pieces.
PS — Everyone* loves babies! (* everyone, that is, except progressives.)
