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By Hugh Cameron
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The White House has offered an explanation which clashes with Michael and Susan Dell's version of how their recently announced $6 billion contribution to Donald Trump’s namesake savings accounts will reach the nation’s children.
The administration has promised to boost the president’s tax-deferred “Trump Accounts” with a $1,000 government contribution for any American child born after December 31, 2024 and before January 1, 2029.
And in December, Michael Dell—the billionaire founder and CEO of Dell Technologies—and his wife Susan pledged $6.25 billion to put $250 into Trump Accounts of children under 10 living in income-eligible zip codes.
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“The Dells' commitment of $6.25 billion seeds the accounts of 25 million children born between 2016 and 2024 with $250 each,” a representative of the Dells told Newsweek, adding that these deposits would “reach kids who are ineligible for the federal seed funding.”
But on Thursday, the White House told Newsweek that the Dell donation was “in addition to the $1k everyone gets.”
Newsweek has contacted the White House regarding the discrepancy.
Why It Matters
The administration has framed Trump Accounts, which will launch in July, as a transformative financial boost for America’s children and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has called it “the defining policy of America’s 250th anniversary." The president’s Council of Economic Advisers projects that the accounts, thanks to the government seed funding, will generate sizeable returns even without major, individual contributions.
And by the administration’s own estimates, a difference of $250 in initial funds could therefore translate into a significant long-term gap in account balances in the years and decades ahead.
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What To Know
“An American child born after December 31, 2024 and before January 1, 2029 for whom a Trump Account is established will receive an initial $1,000 deposit from the government, with the potential for parents to contribute up to an additional $5,000 per year initially,” the president’s Council of Economic Advisers wrote in December.
But according to the terms of the Dell's donation, published on an official website devoted to their philanthropic efforts, the $250 being donated will go exclusively to children “age 10 and under who were born prior to the qualifying date for the federal newborn contribution.”
And beyond the White House's recent statement to Newsweek, the administration has at other points suggested that the donation would be on top of the $1,000—meaning certain children would open Trump Accounts with $1,250 already deposited.
In a fact sheet released in December, the White House said that the contribution “supercharges” Trump Accounts, and called the Dell donation “an additional $250.”
“This historic act of generosity will give millions of low- and middle-income children an even stronger shot at achieving the American Dream,” it wrote.
During a ceremony in the White House in December, venture capitalist Brad Gerstner, one of Trump Accounts’ main proponents, also suggested that the Dell donation would go toward accounts of those already benefitting from the government contribution.
“Every American child, 3.7 million children born every year, will now start life off with an investment account seeded with $1,000,” said Gerstner. “And then you're going to have great philanthropists, great Americans like Michael and Susan, who are going to add money to those accounts.”
Gerstner has himself pledged support to the initiative, announcing this week that he would donate $250 to each child aged under five with a Trump Account in Indiana. He joins a growing list of individual and corporate backers, including dozens of companies who have said that they will match employee contributions dollar-for-dollar.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump, speaking at a Trump Accounts event on Wednesday, said: “Over the next 15 years, we’re going to put three-to-four trillion dollars of wealth into the hands of young Americans who otherwise would have started out with nothing. It’s really an amazing thing, because it gives young children that start out with really nothing—and we give them, boy, it’s more money than anybody could imagine from their standpoint. They’ll have a real start in life, and that’s why, decades from now, I believe Trump Accounts will be remembered as one of the most transformative policy innovations of all time.”
Scott Santens, an economic researcher and founder of the Income To Support All (ITSA) nonprofit foundation, wrote last month: “The Dell family’s $6.25 billion isn’t adding $250 on top of that $1,000 government seed. It’s going to a completely different population: 25 million children who are age 10 and under and were born before January 1, 2025. These children don’t qualify for the government’s $1,000 at all. They’re getting $250 — period.”
Ismael Cid-Martinez, economist at the Economic Policy Institute, told Newsweek: “The administration has described the new Trump Accounts as a savings vehicle that redefines the social contract. In reality, these accounts redefine that contract to benefit households already positioned to save and bequeath wealth to their children."
“Addressing inequities in poverty and wealth demands vehicles that improve economic security by reducing racial disparities, boosting the wages and incomes of working families, and supporting the basic needs of low-income families through publicly funded social programs like SNAP and Medicaid,” he added. “Families should not depend on the charitable contributions of billionaires in search of tax write-offs."
What Happens Next
Trump Accounts will be open for contributions upon the official launch of the initiative on July 5.
In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Bessent said 600,000 families had already applied for Trump Accounts since the start of the tax season on Monday, and the Treasury Department has launched a “50 State Challenge,” aimed at encouraging other philanthropists to make donations to the accounts.
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