John Fetterman said he will open Trump Accounts for all three of his children, putting a personal stamp on a program he once helped oppose. At a youth basketball camp in Nicetown on Monday, the Pennsylvania Democrat stood alongside Dave McCormick to promote the federally backed savings accounts that are set to launch on July 4.
The timing matters because families are already reading up on the program ahead of its rollout. Trump Accounts are available to children under 18, and those born between Jan. 1, 2025 and Dec. 31, 2028 will receive $1,000 in seed money. Every account will also get $250 from a $6.25 billion donation from Michael Dell and Susan Dell, while families, businesses and nonprofits can add up to $5,000 a year. For parents trying to decide whether to move fast when the program opens, the basics are simple: money can be added over time, a portion can be used when the child turns 18, and the rest rolls into an IRA retirement account.
Fetterman told the crowd he and his wife, Gisele, would open the accounts for their children and urged families in deeply Democratic Philadelphia to look past the name on the program. “Do not fall into that political trap,” he said, adding that the accounts were not “some radical thing” and telling parents to do it “for your child.” McCormick, speaking to more than 100 kids, asked, “Who is excited about getting $200? Put your hands up,” as the two senators pitched the savings plan as a way to build future wealth.
The pitch carried extra weight because Fetterman voted against the GOP-led bill behind the accounts in 2024 and called it a “disaster” over cuts to Medicaid spending and SNAP. Now he is publicly urging families to sign on to a Trump-branded program he once rejected, a turn that says as much about the politics around the accounts as it does about the account terms themselves.
For now, the question is not whether Trump Accounts exist. It is how many families in Philadelphia and beyond decide to open them once the July 4 launch arrives, especially after a rare public appearance from a senator who is not known for showing up often in the city.
