Social Security Will Now Send Trump Account Instructions With Newborns’ Social Security Cards as Treasury Counts 70 Million Enrolled Children

The envelope that brings a newborn’s first Social Security card now carries a second piece of paper. The Social Security Administration said on Oct. 20 that it has started including instructions for opening a Trump Account with cards mailed to babies whose numbers were requested at birth.

The change arrives weeks after the Trump administration said nearly 70 million children now have the accounts in their names. For babies born from 2025 through 2028, claiming one is the step that unlocks a one-time $1,000 deposit from the U.S. Treasury.

What the Insert Tells New Parents

In its announcement from Baltimore, the SSA said the information goes out with cards issued through Enumeration at Birth, the program that lets parents ask for a Social Security number on hospital birth paperwork.

According to the agency, the insert tells parents and guardians to download the official Trump Accounts app and sign up at TrumpAccounts.gov, to watch for a message from the Treasury Department about activating the account and receiving the $1,000 contribution if the child qualifies, and to manage the account and add money within the limits that apply.

SSA Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano said in the release that the agency is giving parents “the tools to activate their child’s Trump Account.”

The insert follows through on a plan the agency laid out in the summer. In a July 3 announcement, the SSA said it would update hospital guidance, help states revise the birth-registration forms hospitals use and add Trump Account information to future newborn card mailers. At that point, the agency counted 6 million enrolled children. Bisignano called Social Security numbers “the backbone of Trump Accounts” in that release.

Under the SSA’s explanation of Enumeration at Birth, parents request the number while registering the birth at a hospital, birthing center or with a licensed midwife. The state vital statistics office sends the information electronically to Social Security, which assigns the number and mails the card. Processing averages about two weeks, and the card can take up to another two weeks to arrive, so most families will see the insert roughly a month after the birth.

How the 70 Million Count Was Built

Most of those accounts were not opened by parents. On Oct. 1, the Treasury Department announced that automatic enrollment was complete, adding more than 60 million eligible children who now have an account ready to be claimed. Any child under 18 with a valid Social Security number has one.

When President Trump announced the total on Oct. 7, it combined those automatic enrollments with roughly 10 million children whose parents opted in after the accounts launched on July 4, ABC News reported. The administration also said $2.2 billion had been deposited since July 4.

The SSA’s release puts the figure at nearly 70 million open accounts, 26 million of which have received contributions. Some unclaimed accounts have also received money from outside donors, the agency said. Michael and Susan Dell pledged $6.25 billion to the program, and several large employers have pledged to match the federal deposit for their workers’ children, according to ABC News.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called automatic enrollment a milestone, saying in the Treasury release that “millions of children have already enrolled in Trump Accounts.”

Claiming the Account and the $1,000

An automatically opened account still needs a parent. Treasury says a parent or guardian must claim it through the app, verifying their identity and relationship to the child, reviewing the child’s information and accepting the account terms. Only after that can relatives, friends and employers contribute, and the $1,000 seed deposit is paid only once the account is claimed.

The IRS’s Trump Accounts FAQ spells out who gets that deposit: U.S. citizen children born from Jan. 1, 2025, through Dec. 31, 2028, with a valid Social Security number. Parents elect it on Form 4547 by choosing the $1,000 pilot program contribution, and the form can be submitted through the Trump Accounts app, the Trump Accounts website or an IRS Individual Online Account.

Parents whose child was enrolled automatically do not need Form 4547 to open the account, the IRS says, but they still must claim it, activate it and elect the contribution if the child qualifies. Families who already requested the deposit do not need to file again.

The IRS also warns that the child’s name, Social Security number and date of birth must match Social Security’s records exactly to avoid delays. For parents of newborns, that makes the new card itself the best reference when filling out the claim.

Each eligible child can have only one account, according to the SSA, with a parent, guardian or other authorized adult acting as custodian. When the child turns 18, the account continues as a traditional retirement account. Families with questions can call the IRS’s Trump Accounts line at 866-USA-4547 or visit TrumpAccounts.gov.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Elizabeth – CC0/Wikimedia Commons