Donald Trump has been heavily promoting "Trump accounts", a federal scheme launched in July that gives newborns a $1,000 government-funded investment deposit, casting it as a way to give American children a financial head start. Economists say his claims about the programme's benefits are overstated and warn it may actually widen, rather than narrow, the wealth gap between rich and poor families, despite the administration's insistence that it levels the playing field.

The scheme lets families deposit up to $5,000 a year into a tax-deferred account, but only wealthier households can typically afford to contribute the maximum, meaning their children's accounts could grow to $200,000-$300,000 while poorer families' accounts, reliant solely on the initial $1,000, grow far less. Trump has suggested some accounts could reach $1m, figures critics call misleading. University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers said the policy is "more likely to widen the gap between rich and poor" than help poor children, while White House spokesperson Kush Desai defended the scheme, citing pledges from billionaires including Michael Dell and Ray Dalio to donate to working-class children's accounts.