EXCLUSIVE — Families owning Trump Accounts have been pouring funds into the new investment vehicle, with the program’s launch drawing praise from both sides of the aisle.
The program had been generating bipartisan buzz for months after being signed into law as part of President Donald Trump‘s One Big Beautiful Bill Act last July 4. This past Saturday, the 250th anniversary of America’s independence, families who had already claimed an account could begin adding personal contributions themselves.
A senior Treasury Department official told the Washington Examiner that, in just the first five days, nearly $125 million has been contributed to the investment accounts. A further 500,000 new accounts were opened. As of Thursday, more than 6.5 million accounts had been opened for American children.
Of the nearly $125 million in personal contributions, 70% have been for less than $250, while 60% came in below $100. Administration officials say the small-dollar contributions indicate the program is being used by everyone on the economic ladder, not just America’s wealthiest families.
“Families are contributing what they can,” a Treasury Department official told the Washington Examiner. “They know small steps make a big difference.”
Beyond the money itself, the Trump Accounts app has performed remarkably compared to other federal government tech rollouts, holding the top overall spot in the Apple App Store. Its average rating of 4.75 stars across nearly 3,500 reviews gives it better marks than the Robinhood app.
For comparison, the 2013 rollout of the Affordable Care Act’s Healthcare.gov website was plagued by numerous technical glitches that were well documented in media reports at the time. A leaked internal memo from the Obama administration showed that only six individuals were able to enroll the first day the website went live, and there were just 248 enrollments by the end of the first 48 hours.
The Trump administration acknowledged anecdotal evidence that some Trump Accounts users are seeing errors but stressed that “99.9% of users have not encountered any hiccups and that customer support was working quickly with the 0.1% of cases that require assistance.” A Treasury Department official claimed that users have waited, on average, “0.2 seconds when contacting customer support by phone and 0.5 seconds when contacting via chat.”
Even some frequent critics of the president have given Trump Accounts glowing reviews.
In a Wednesday appearance on SiriusXM’s The Clay Cane Show, Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) likened the program to baby bonds, calling it “one of the fastest ways that you can address both child poverty and the racial wealth gap.”
“I will give this administration credit for this, is that we’ve had Democratic presidents and Republican presidents who have not been able to get this done, and it actually got done,” Moore added. “So I actually, this is actually a smart policy.”
The program’s success has led the president to float a similar program for “grown-ups.”
“I guess the best definition is they have a plan in Australia, which people really like,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. “That would be more for grown-ups as opposed to children, but it’s something that’s going to be great, I think, if we can get it done.”
Trump Accounts themselves are tax-deferred investment savings accounts designed for children, to which parents, family members, and others can contribute money. The funds can be tapped into after the beneficiary turns 18. Family, friends, and employers can add up to $5,000 in contributions to each account every year.
TRUMP ACCOUNTS OFFICIALLY LAUNCH ONE YEAR AFTER BEING SIGNED INTO LAW
For babies born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, the government will deposit $1,000 into each Trump Account. That $1,000 cannot be touched until the beneficiary turns 18. According to the Treasury Department, 1.4 million Trump Accounts that have been claimed so far will be eligible for the $1,000 federal seed investment.
Furthermore, the Trump administration is actively courting additional contributions from philanthropists and American companies. The administration has already secured billions in additional seed contributions, most notably $6.5 billion from Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, and his wife, Susan Dell. The Dells’ contribution will see 25 million Trump Accounts, belonging to children under the age of 10 and living in ZIP codes where the median annual income is less than $150,000, receive an additional $250 in seed money.