Trump Accounts: Newborns get a $1,000 tax-free nest egg that grows until age 18 — American dream revival or debt nightmare?

Back in July, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law, establishing Trump Accounts — a tax-free savings program that provides a $1,000 government deposit for every U.S. newborn from 2025 to 2028. Families are permitted to contribute up to $5,000 annually starting July 4, 2026. Funds are locked until age 18, when they become available for uses like education, a first home, or business startup.

The core idea behind the initiative is to revive the American dream for today’s young Americans, who have lower home ownership rates, more student debt, and less wealth at age 30 than their parents or grandparents did.

But is it really a good idea? Or is it just another form of socialist wealth redistribution that creates dependency rather than true opportunity?

On a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn spoke with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s adviser Joseph Lavorgna.

Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described these Trump Accounts as “the beginning of a shareholder economy” during a panel at the New York Times DealBook Summit in New York.

“That’s a little frightening because we’ve been warning against the stakeholder economy. How far down the road does Secretary Bessent think we were on the stakeholder if this is the beginning of a shareholder economy?” Glenn asks.

But Lavorgna says there’s nothing frightening about Bessent’s statement.

“What he meant by that was that the U.S. economy is one that thrives when you’ve got incentives to produce and work,” he says.

“The bill that the president signed … encourages capital formation and growth and the ability to invest in the future to teach, in many cases yet-to-be-born boys and girls, the power of compound interest in being a stakeholder in the capitalist system.”

“In other words, if you have a stake in the system, you don’t want to burn it down?” Glenn asks.

“Right. It’s essentially the American dream. It’s a way to build wealth creation,” Lavorgna confirms, praising Trump Accounts as “a great investment for the future.”

But Glenn has two major concerns.

One: The same idea was proposed to our founders, but they shut it down.

“This was proposed before, during the founding era. It was called Agrarian Justice, and Thomas Paine said, ‘We should give 15 pounds to everybody who turns 21,’ and that 15 pounds … would be, in today’s dollars, about $2,500 to $3,000,” says Glenn.

The founders, he explains, “rejected it” as “redistribution of wealth” and “not government’s role.”

But Lavorgna defends the idea. “That was over a couple hundred years ago, and the economy and the capitalist system has evolved significantly. This isn’t a redistribution of wealth; this is an investment in the future and people’s livelihoods.”

He also argues that the program is a tool for developing “financial literacy,” meaning American youth will be taught that “when they put money aside, that money will grow and do wondrous things through the power of compound interest.”

Glenn’s second counterargument is that we shouldn’t be beginning any new government programs when the national debt is already out of control.

“We’re $38 trillion in debt. I’m so torn on this because I really do understand people feel like they don’t have a stake; they’re never going to get ahead; they’re never going to get a house — all of this stuff that’s leading them to this lie of socialism,” he says.

“We have to do something. But again, I’m so concerned about opening up a can of worms here that just gets out of control again.”

But Lavorgna says Trump Accounts are “not consumption.” The money, he says, goes straight “back into the capitalist system” — sparking businesses, growing companies, and creating jobs and wealth.

“The only way that we are going to be able to deal with the debt situation is to grow and to grow fast,” he says.

To hear Glenn’s response, watch the full interview above.

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