Trump Accounts expand to millions of children, but new rules raise questions

Every eligible American child now has a Trump Account, after the Treasury Department enrolled more than 60 million of them without any action from parents. Around seven million families had already opted in following the July launch, according to PBS NewsHour.

The rollout also changes who can give and what. Wealthy donors, working through a nonprofit and subject to Treasury approval, may now contribute shares of individual companies, or target gifts at children by location or age. Families cannot pick or decline those shares and must hold them for five years, whereas parent and employer deposits still go into low-cost index funds, as Congress originally designed. Michael Dell and Susan Dell have given more than $6 billion in cash, in $250 chunks, and Treasury expects the stock option to draw additional donors.

Wall Street Journal reporter Richard Rubin told PBS NewsHour that experts foresee trouble: a company seeking approval for a data center might promise shares to local children, and regulators could end up with conflicts of interest through their kids' holdings. Treasury is soliciting comments on opt-outs, but none exist yet.

Summarized by PolitiKool from PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at PBS NewsHour →