Trump Admin Suggests Everyone Stop Giving Kids Gifts on Their Birthdays

I don’t know what sort of grim childhood the Trump administration collectively experienced to hold such a bizarre vendetta against kids’ toys, but on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested we retire the wrapping paper altogether—and start giving kids money for their Trump accounts instead of the toy truck they really wanted. Sorry, children! Better luck next lifetime.

Scott Bessent on Trump Accounts: “Rather than giving a toy for a birthday or holiday, they can contribute to these accounts”

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 28, 2026 at 6:31 AM

Bessent’s comments come live from the “Trump Accounts Summit,” which was hosted by the Treasury ahead of the launch of the so-called Trump accounts in question, a program born of the One Big Beautiful Bill that aims to give kids an early start in stock market investments by starting them off with $1,000 from birth, which they will be able to cash in once they turn 18. The pilot program will apply to children born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028.

“Everyone should [sign up],” Bessent told Fox & Friends. “Relatives, rather than giving a toy for a birthday or holiday, they can contribute to these accounts.” He added that he’s expecting to see a “substantial” drop in people entering the lottery—“because you won the lottery. You got $1,000 and the power of compound interest.”

It’s a bizarre solution to the mounting affordability crisis, second only to another suggestion made earlier this month by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who told Americans that they can survive on $3 meals so long as they stick to plating a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, a corn tortilla, and “one other thing.” (After being widely criticized for the extremely out-of-touch comment, Rollins clarified that maybe Americans could also add a baked potato and some bread, too.)

These accounts would be “one of the most transformative policy innovations of all time,” Trump bragged. Also present at the summit were White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Cheryl Hines, and Nicki Minaj—who called herself the president’s “number one” fan. Sigh.

Nicki Minaj on Trump: “I am probably the president’s number one fan — and that’s not going to change.”

[image or embed]

— Phil Lewis (@phillewis.bsky.social) January 28, 2026 at 9:58 AM

But the Trump administration, in its efforts to tackle affordability, has been nothing short of tone-deaf. Alas, it’s no surprise that Bessent—a multimillionaire—is too far gone from reality to get that kids’ toys aren’t the problem.

---