WASHINGTON — New “Trump Accounts” that provide free savings for millions of babies are proving popular, with 600,000 American families already signed up as the program that formally launched Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told NBC News.
Bessent said he predicts 25 million Americans will take advantage of the new accounts, including a pilot program that will deposit $1,000 into accounts for babies with a social security number born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028. Family members can then contribute up to $5,000 per year, with the funds available to the child once they turn 18.
Parents can also set up Trump Accounts for children under 18 who were born before 2025, according to the White House, but they will not receive the $1,000 in starter cash. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced that “dozens of major employers” have pledged to donate to the program for their employees’ children, able to contribute up to $2,500 per employee per year. They include Uber, Intel, Nvidia, Hearst and others, as well as Comcast, the parent company of NBC News.
Bessent said the accounts are “part of the president’s plan on American families and giving them a stake in this great economy.”
The provision was tucked into Trump’s mega tax bill last year without caps on income or other requirements. “We want everyone to be able to participate,” Bessent said, adding that philanthropists, including Michael and Susan Dell, will contribute an additional $250 for families in zip codes where the median income is below $150,000. “We think we’re going to have up to 20 states” contribute to the program as well, Bessent said.
“Everyone with a child who is under 18 should open an account,” he said.
In a wide-ranging interview with NBC News, Bessent touted “a great economy,” but warned Congress to fund the government ahead of a looming cliff on Friday. “The government shutdown will hurt the economy,” Bessent said. “I don’t believe that we should shut down.”
After Border Patrol agents shot and killed a second protester in Minneapolis this month, many Democrats on Capitol Hill said they would not fund the Department of Homeland Security unless Republicans agree to reforms.
“President Trump,” Bessent said, “has been in contact with Republican leadership. He’s been in contact with some of the Democratic leadership” to find a path forward.
Trump on Tuesday said he will announce a new pick to lead the Federal Reserve “soon,” after his administration subpoenaed Chairman Jerome Powell in a criminal probe, alleging Powell mismanaged funds for a $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed’s Washington headquarters. The unprecedented move, criticized by some Republicans and privately by Bessent himself, capped off a yearslong public feud between Trump and Powell, with the White House attempting to pressure the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.
Bessent said he believes the Federal Reserve is independent. “Being independent doesn’t mean no accountability, so we do have these big cost overruns,” he told NBC News on Wednesday. “So, you know, I think some accountability will help their independence.”
Powell’s term as chair ends in May.
On Venezuela, Bessent said his agency is “looking case by case” at winding down sanctions placed on oil in that country after the U.S. removed leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this month.
“Things have been going very well with the Venezuelan leadership,” he said. “I believe that we will start opening up or de-sanctioning a lot of the oil for the American oil companies first. And again, things are moving forward at a good pace. The government is deliberately releasing political prisoners. So the relationship between the U.S. and the current Venezuelan government is good. As long as that continues, I think we can see sanctions lifted.”
