Quanisha Green was checking her email when she saw one from the IRS that made her pause.
asserted
her → check → IRS
The email subject was titled, “Claim your child's Trump Account today!”
uncertain
subject → title → Account
“I was like, ‘Is this a legitimate IRS website?’” the Philadelphia mom of two said.
asserted
mom → say → two
The email explained that nearly 70 million Trump Accounts have been created for children under 18 with a valid Social Security number — whether their parents wanted one or not.
asserted
parents → explain → one
“I don't know how I feel about this,” Green, a business advisor and a department director at a college, recalled thinking.
asserted
Green → know → college
President Donald Trump announced the automatic enrollment for Trump Accounts - a new kind of individual retirement account for under-18-year-olds - at an Oval Office event on October 7.
asserted
Trump → announce → October
Children born from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2028 are eligible for a one-off $1,000 deposit from the government, but parents must request the contribution.
asserted
parents → bear → contribution
Parents also need to claim the Trump Account before they can manage it.
uncertain
they → need → it
Older children are also eligible for a Trump Account, even if they don’t qualify for the $1,000.
asserted
they → qualify → 1,000
Some parents, though, said they knew nothing about the accounts until they were notified by the IRS that one had been created.
asserted
one → say → IRS
Once a Trump Account has been claimed, it cannot currently be closed regardless of how the account was created, according to a Treasury official.
uncertain
account → claim → official
The email Green received from the IRS, seen by The Independent, encouraged her to download the Trump Accounts app to activate her children’s accounts.
asserted
Green → receive → accounts
“Established by President Donald J. Trump’s landmark Working Families Tax Cuts law, Trump Accounts help children build long-term savings and gain a stake in America’s economic future,” the email said.
asserted
email → establish → future
The president’s branding was off putting for Green, but her children, aged 10 and 14, automatically have a Trump Account against her wishes.
asserted
children → put → wishes
“When it gave the instructions to go to Trump's special website, I was like, OK, I'm definitely not signing up because anything that is associated with this president in that way, I'm just like, ‘no, thank you!’” she said.
asserted
she → give → you
“I don't want to be associated with this in any shape, way, or form.”
asserted
I → want → shape
Green’s other concerns were surrounding protecting her children’s personal data.
asserted
concerns → surround → data
“I just have a lack of confidence in this administration, especially with all the stuff they did earlier around Elon Musk and him having potential access to the IRS database,” she said, referring to the chaos under the billionaire’s now defunct Department of Government Efficiency.
asserted
she → have → Efficiency
Musk requested access to IRS systems that held sensitive taxpayer data.
asserted
that → request → data
He was ultimately unsuccessful after major outcry, but a judge last week ruled that the Office of Personnel Management breached federal law when it shared other sensitive government information about federal employees with Musk’s DOGE operatives.
asserted
it → rule → operatives
Texas mom Kate Pospisil, who lives near Austin, said she was “horrified” that her 5-year-old daughter has a Trump Account without her consent.
asserted
daughter → live → consent
“The fact that a government entity can open a financial account run by a bank and a brokerage firm in my daughter's name without my consent, without my approval, without any kind of signage or anything… it's horrifying,” she told The Independent.
asserted
she → open → Independent
“There should have been an opt-out opportunity for my child and for my family,” the 39-year-old digital advertising managing editor added.
asserted
editor → opt → family
“I don't want anybody making a decision for my child other than her father, without my consent,” she explained.
asserted
she → want → consent
“We are the adults in charge of her well-being and bringing her to adulthood, and I feel like a valid parental decision was overridden by the government.
asserted
decision → bring → government
The Treasury has designated the Bank of New York Mellon to support the Trump Accounts program and the bank has partnered with Robinhood Securities as the brokerage provider and initial trustee.
asserted
bank → designate → provider
It doesn’t sit well with Pospisil.
asserted
It → sit → Pospisil
“I don't know what information was shared with these private entities,” she explained.
asserted
she → know → entities
“I understand that the government has that information, but those private entities didn't have it prior to October 1, and now they do, and they do without my consent.
asserted
they → understand → consent
Neither Green nor Pospisil’s children qualify for the $1,000 contribution from the government and said they were not going to “activate” and claim their kids’ Trump accounts.
uncertain
they → qualify → accounts
But the accounts themselves will still exist.
asserted
accounts → exist → ?
Outside donors can still contribute to unclaimed accounts.
asserted
donors → contribute → accounts
Automatic enrollment enables eligible children to begin benefiting from qualifying philanthropic and government contributions as early as possible, according to a Treasury official.
uncertain
enrollment → enable → official
Experts encouraged parents to try and separate the politics from the financial.
asserted
Experts → encourage → financial
“I can understand why some parents feel uncomfortable with the government automatically opening an investment account in their child’s name,” Liliya Rose Strong, an investor and mom of two, said.
asserted
Strong → understand → two
“But personally, I try to keep politics out of my investment decisions.”
asserted
I → try → decisions
“My own two children were born before 2025, so neither qualifies for the federal $1,000 contribution,” she added.
asserted
she → bear → contribution
“But if they did, I’d happily accept it while continuing to invest in their 529 plans.
asserted
I → do → plans
But for parents such as Green and Pospisil, that is easier said than done and they don’t plan to claim their kids’ accounts.
uncertain
they → say → accounts
“We weren't necessarily comfortable with a government account that didn't have a lot of information about it,” Pospisil said.
asserted
Pospisil → have → it
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
