FIRST ON FOX: “Trump Accounts” will work as a nationwide starter kit for financial literacy while serving as an antidote to rising anti-capitalist sentiment, according to the head of the Treasury Department, which regulates and supervises the nation’s banks.
“Trump Accounts will be one of the most impactful financial literacy tools in our country’s history,” Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said Friday before the Financial Literacy and Education Commission. “They offer all Americans a unique opportunity to own a stake in the most powerful economy in the world, watch their money grow and begin their investing journey.”
Trump Accounts were created under the “big, beautiful bill” signed on July 4, 2025, and are structured as deferred investment accounts for children. Eligible children born between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2028, who are U.S. citizens with valid Social Security numbers, will receive a federal starting contribution of $1,000, while families and employers can also contribute within established limits.
In addition to helping children’s ability to secure the “American Dream” as the administration has celebrated, Gould said the bills would strengthen financial literacy and boost what he described as an anti-capitalist ideology.
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Fox News Digital obtained Gould’s full comments at the Financial Literacy and Education Commission meeting, which focused on implementation, consumer education and outreach efforts for Trump Accounts. The committee is a body within the Ministry of Finance, established in 2003 to improve the financial literacy of citizens.
Gould focused on “collectivist policies” such as socialism, arguing that financial literacy requires “a fundamental understanding of the principles of the free market.” He called Trump Accounts a response to what he called the growing anti-capitalist ideology.
Trump Accounts “offer all Americans a unique opportunity to own a stake in the most powerful economy in the world, watch their money grow and begin their investing journey,” Gould said. “Trump Accounts offer America’s children the opportunity to experience the best of our free markets and own a piece of the American Dream. And they are a direct rebuttal to the philosophical and economic impasses of collectivist policies.”
“Trump Accounts will be one of the most impactful financial literacy tools in our country’s history,” said Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould for the Financial Literacy and Education Commission. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Gould heads the Office of the Comptroller of the Coin, an independent agency under the umbrella of the Treasury Department that oversees all national banks, federal savings associations and branches of foreign banks licensed to operate in the US.
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Recent studies have found that American adults suffer from financial illiteracy, including the World Economic Forum publishing data in 2024 showing that about 50% of American adults could not pass a 28-question personal finance test called P-Fin index. A separate study published by WalletHub in 2024 found that Generation Z – the youngest generation in the US workforce – is the least financially confident generation, with 85% reporting they see one or more barriers to financial success.
Gould continued in his remarks Friday, saying his goal is to “ensure Americans are equipped with the knowledge to navigate the financial system, strengthen the competitive landscape that supports their communities, and have a regulatory structure that promotes prosperity.”
He added in his remarks to the committee that banks must use their credibility and status to protect Americans from the rise of “anti-capitalist ideologies” that are exacerbating financial illiteracy in the U.S. after decades of “inattention to the harmful and inaccurate curriculum that too many of our schools and colleges have taught.”
“I strongly encourage banks to use their credibility and standing in the community to combat the rise of anti-capitalist ideologies,” Gould said. “These ideologies were born of financial illiteracy and reflect decades of inattention to the harmful and inaccurate curriculum that too many of our schools and colleges have taught. As one of the central tools of capitalism, banks have a major stake in this, and they have an important role to play in inoculating Americans against these harmful ideologies.”
An American flag is displayed at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, February 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, file)
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“Financial literacy and regulatory reform are linked,” Gould said. “When consumers understand banking and regulation, they are less vulnerable to inappropriate practices and better able to understand how innovation, whether digital payments, modern distribution methods or new financial services, can best serve them.”
Some Democratic lawmakers and policy groups have spoken out against Trump Accounts, claiming they fail to address the financial hurdles Americans face, or that they could widen the wealth gap because poor families who cannot add contributions after the seed money will benefit least, The Associated Press reported.
President Donald Trump has celebrated the bills for giving citizens a better chance at the “American dream,” adding that they are “true trust funds for every American child.”
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“The federal government will also automatically make a one-time $1,000 seed contribution to Trump’s tax-deferred accounts for every newborn American citizen, fulfilling a promise I made in the 2024 campaign,” Trump said in December while announcing the bills. “Trump bills should be worth many thousands of dollars by the time the child is 18, and even more by the time they are 20 or even 30 years old.”
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