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President Trump Remarks @ Trump Accounts Event (Transcript) 

Editor’s Notes: President Donald J. Trump introduces the “Trump Accounts” initiative, a bold new policy designed to give every newborn American child a financial stake in the nation’s future. By providing a tax-free investment account with a $1,000 seed contribution, the program aims to ensure that young Americans begin their lives with tangible assets rather than debt. The event features endorsements from prominent business leaders and cultural icons, emphasizing a massive collaborative effort to foster long-term wealth creation for the next generation. This program underscores the administration’s commitment to revitalizing the American dream through innovative, market-based solutions. (Jan 28, 2026) 

TRANSCRIPT:

Michael and Susan Dell’s Historic Donation

PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP: $6,250,000,000 is a lot of money, wouldn’t you think? I mean, you know, Nikki, do you hear that money? That’s big even compared to rapping, all the money she makes. She’s hearing a number like that. She’s saying, “How many songs do I have to make to catch that?”

But amazing thing. $6,250,000,000 to fund Trump accounts for an additional 25 million children aged 10 and under. And that’s Michael and Susan Dell. Two incredible people. Where are you, Michael? Where is Michael? Stand up, Michael. What a great guy. What a great guy.

You know, I tell you, he didn’t do it for his business. He did it, I guess, probably he would have been better off. Not to, that’s a lot. But you know what, I hope everybody goes out and buys Dell computers. My son, I told you, Barron, he loves that computer. I don’t know what the hell you’re doing to it, but he likes it. But I just want to thank you very much. And, Susan, it’s unbelievable, really unbelievable what you’ve done.

So, Michael and Susan made this donation in recognition of America’s 250th anniversary because there’s no better way to honor America’s history than to invest in America’s future. That’s what they did. And this is perhaps the largest, one of the largest, certainly, but perhaps the largest private donations of all time. That’s a lot, $6 billion, $250 million.

And somebody did say that. A friend of mine, very rich, he’s going to put up $100 million. And he said, “You know, think of it, the $250 million that Michael has is a lot more than mine.” And I haven’t even talked about the $6 billion. But anyway, it’s amazing when Michael can start off with very little money and build a fortune where he can, you know, routinely make such a payment as an investment in the youth of our country. Michael, you’re great. Thank you, man. Thank you.

Acknowledgment of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

And I also want to say hello to and thank some very special people that have been with my administration and really become friends of mine. On occasion, I have little arguments. But generally, I would say, really good. And who’s doing, and start off with a man who’s doing a phenomenal job, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Scott, thank you very much. Scott.

And he loved this right from the beginning, Scott, right? He saw this and he said, “Wow, what a great idea that is.” This is, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars. By the time they reach 18, but we can go 21, they can keep it in longer. But he saw this right from the beginning. He said, “Wow, this is great.” And we have some other ideas that will be great.

But this was one that just hit everybody. This was an easy one to think about. And again, that bill allowed us to do this. Otherwise, can you imagine trying to get this approved by Democrats and Republicans? Let’s get together. We got it done. Also, a man who’s made your life much easier because those of you that are building plants and equipment so you can give your money — ultimately, you’re giving your money away anyway, no matter how much you make. But he’s made it a lot easier.

You know, approvals for big plants used to take 20 years, 25 years, and then you’d get rejected, actually. You’d go 20 years environmentally, and they’d reject you. You finally — if I think of it, a guy starts young, he starts an approval process. By the time he’s middle-aged, they take a vote, and he loses. It’s not worth it. But we have a man that’s getting these things done in a matter of weeks.

And the biggest plants in the world are being built right now, and he’s getting them done fast. He’s getting electric plants built so that we can buy them. They’re paying for them. They want to pay for them so they can open up their AI plants and they can open up their automobile plants. And less or so — the automobiles, believe it or not, take much less electricity. You’re going to have to tell me why you need so much electricity to create information. I said, “What’s your primary product?” Information. “Oh, I see. Information.” It better be damn good information for the kind of money.

Lee Zeldin’s Work on Permits and Regulations

But Lee Zeldin is a star, and he has been incredible. Thank you, Lee. And, you know, I have to say this. Scott and I were talking about it. So, Lee went out to California after the fire, which would have never happened if they would have let the water flow from the Pacific Northwest, which everybody has been telling him, including me. Now he just opened it up. We literally sent in the military to open it up.

But if they would have let, you wouldn’t have had the fires because you would have had a little thing called, the old-fashioned way, water in the fire hydrants, as opposed to empty fire hydrants. You would have had water, and most of the houses had the sprinklers on top. No — there was no water in their sprinkler in their living room.