White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected the charge that the administration's proposed $1,000-per-child Treasury-seeded savings accounts amount to wealth redistribution, framing the initiative instead as a public-private partnership.
Reporters pressed Leavitt during a press briefing on whether the so-called Trump accounts — seeded with $1,000 from the Treasury for American children — constitute wealth redistribution. She deflected the label outright.
I would certainly not describe it as that.
Leavitt characterized the program as "an incredible public, private-public partnership," citing what she described as "incredibly generous Americans" — naming Michael Dell among contributors to the fund. She said that money would then be passed along to America's children.
A reporter also raised whether children born to illegal immigrants in the United States would be excluded from the Trump accounts, linking the question to the administration's birthright citizenship push. Leavitt deferred on the specifics: "That's not something I've discussed directly with the President, so I don't want to speak out of turn on that."
She reiterated the administration's stance on birthright citizenship, calling it a "scam" where "foreigners from all around the world" travel to the U.S. to give birth to babies who receive American citizenship, adding that the administration is "committed to finding solutions to remedy that" and intends to work with Congress.
On the accounts themselves, Leavitt said all American citizen children are eligible as it stands.