Trump Accounts: A Ridiculous Name for a Good Program

Because Donald Trump is so obsessed with putting his name and likeness on things, and his supporters are so eager to accommodate him in the most ridiculous ways, his political adversaries will take a particular delight in removing them once he is out of power.

Perhaps the best example of this dynamic is the fight over the name of the Kennedy Center, to which Trump added his moniker last year before a court ordered it removed from the building and website. While the administration complied, it has since covered the façade of the building with a tarp as to protect the president from ridicule.

Ultimately, Trump passports and National Park passes with his image will be collectors’ items, like Soviet stamps with the likeness of Joseph Stalin; the “Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace” will revert to the “United States Institute of Peace;” and those authoritarian-style banners will disappear from governmental buildings.

https://whowhatwhy.sitetherapy.co/cartoon/donald-trump-thinks-americans-want-to-see-his-face-and-name-everywhere/

And, while they don’t bear his name, the Department of Defense will be the Department Defense again and the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Mexico.

There are a couple of exceptions to this.

We imagine that the airport in Palm Beach, which will become the Donald J. Trump International Airport later this week, will keep its name (if only to prevent the city’s most famous resident from whining about it).

Then there are the “Trump Accounts,” which are a real outlier because they are actually a good idea.

While it is outside the norm to put a sitting president’s name on a program like this (although unsurprisingly narcissistic in this case), these accounts will outlive their namesake.

And no matter how people feel about the president, if they have eligible children (i.e., those who won’t turn 18 until next year), they should sign up for them.

Here is how it works.

Under the program, parents can open special accounts for their kids, and any money they and others deposit (capped at $5,000) is then invested in the stock market. When the child turns 18, they get access to the money, which has to be spent on certain things, e.g., tuition or a down payment for a home.

While that in itself may not sound all that great, the good part is that others will also deposit money into these accounts.

Specifically, any baby born during Trump’s second term receives $1,000 from the government. In addition, people and companies trying to get on the president’s good side (or actual philanthropists) have also pledged contributions.

For example, Michael and Susan Dell have said they would give more than $6 billion to the program, and various companies have pledged that they would make donations for the accounts of children of their employees, or for kids who live in certain states.

In other words, this is free money.

But kids won’t receive it automatically. Parents have to enroll them, which they can do here starting now.

While the money won’t help kids in their developmental years, this is a good idea, and we anticipate that the $1,000 government contribution will be made permanent eventually.

And then, everybody wins: kids, parents, and Donald Trump, whose name will stay on something.