Oh, baby! Donald Trump finally gets something right | Opinion
I don’t often say this, but here goes: Good for you, Mr. President.
You read that correctly.
Donald Trump deserves a measure of credit for pushing through legislation that makes every child born in the U.S. eligible for $1,000, to be deposited in a savings account.
Trump being Trump, he could not resist naming this program after himself.
These are Trump accounts, and they will only be available to children born during his second term in office, which sounds suspiciously like another effort to cement his legacy.
Think about it: Decades from now, young couples may debate whether to dip into the Trump account to help with a down payment on a $2.8 million starter home, or blow the money on a family trip to Disneyland.
Yes, Trump accounts is a lousy name, but that should not discourage parents from signing up their offspring.
This is free money, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayers, to the tune of an estimated $3 billion per year for four years.
That’s OK, because this is a tangible benefit for children. Plus, it’s a nice thing to do. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it’s something dreamed up by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani or one of those other Democratic Socialists Trump is excoriating.
True, we’re not talking about a huge windfall; economists estimate that in 18 years that $1,000 will be worth anywhere from $2,026 to $5,560, depending on annual rate of return. But if parents, grandparents, friends, employers, etc. make periodic deposits, the account will grow exponentially.
All in all, I have to agree with the president’s assessment. This could wind up being one of the most important things he’s done during his current administration.
This isn’t exactly a child-friendly administration
But let’s not get carried away with congratulations. For a true accounting, we have to weigh this benefit against some of the losses children and their families have incurred since Trump took office in 2025.
A few examples:
- Cutting Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP) by more than $1 trillion, the largest federal reductions to health care in U.S. history.
- Deporting immigrant parents of children who are U.S. citizens. (Hard numbers aren’t readily available, but the Brookings Institution has estimated that 205,000 children, including 145,000 U.S. citizen children, “have likely experienced a parental detention since the administration began.”)
- Appointing a Health and Human Services secretary who undermined confidence in childhood vaccines. Measles cases spiked from 280 in 2024 to 2,240 in 2025. As of July 2, the Centers for Disease Control reported 2,158 confirmed cases this year.
- Reducing funds for pediatric research.
- Cutting or threatening to cut educational programs like Upward Bound, which prepares low-income students for college.
- Reversing course on clean energy by promoting fossil fuels and killing wind and solar projects and programs, even as the U.S. experiences devastating heat waves, fires and floods.
Corporations are getting on board
Given all that, It may be tempting to dismiss the Trump accounts as mere window dressing.
But let’s not be so cynical that we fail to recognize this is a worthwhile program that should have been started long ago, and will hopefully continue long after Trump is gone.
To that end, It appears to be gaining momentum; companies are stepping up to make additional contributions to Trump accounts.
Michael and Susan Dell of Dell Technologies, for example, are donating $6.25 billion to older children who do not qualify for Trump money. They’re giving $250 to every child born between 2016 and 2024 who live in zip codes where median household income is below $150,000 per year.
So what’s the big deal if Trump is doing this to burnish his reputation, or to help ensure his place in heaven?
Let it go. If it helps, don’t think of these as Trump accounts.
Call them what they truly are: baby gifts welcoming the newest members of our nation.
This story was originally published July 8, 2026 at 10:01 AM with the headline "Oh, baby! Donald Trump finally gets something right | Opinion."
