Administration Weighs Allowing Stock Gifts to Trump Accounts

The administration has held internal discussions about allowing wealthy donors to contribute appreciated company stock to Trump Accounts, enabling donors to avoid capital gains tax and claim charitable deductions based on market value. Investor Brad Gerstner is named in administration documents and by people familiar with the talks as a lead advocate for the proposal.

Trump Accounts began this year under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The program provides a $1,000 Treasury seed deposit for each U.S. child born from 2025 through 2028. Parents may add up to $5,000 per year in after-tax contributions. Funds are invested in diversified U.S. equity index funds and become partially accessible when beneficiaries reach 18. Cash contributions to the accounts open on July 4, 2026. Robinhood has been selected as the brokerage and initial trustee, working with BNY Mellon.

Officials discussed a structure that mirrors current tax rules for charitable stock gifts. Under that approach, a donor would transfer appreciated shares to an eligible account, avoid the capital gains tax that applies to a sale, and take a charitable deduction equal to the shares’ market value. That combination would give founders with large unrealized gains a tax treatment not available for ordinary cash donations.

Private capital commitments have already flowed into the program. Michael and Susan Dell pledged $6.25 billion in December to fund $250 deposits for roughly 25 million children in lower-income ZIP codes. Additional commitments include state-level or employer-matched contributions from investors and firms such as Ray Dalio, BlackRock, Uber, Robinhood and Charles Schwab.

Changing the program to accept noncash gifts would require new legislation. Congress would need to amend how Trump Accounts treat noncash donations before stock gifts could be accepted, and neither the Treasury Department nor the White House has publicly confirmed the internal discussions.

The NYU Tax Law Center described the proposal as an expansion of philanthropy deductions used by ultra-wealthy donors and warned it could encourage founders to route appreciated equity through charitable channels into government-sponsored accounts. Advocates argue the option could mobilize founder-held equity that is otherwise illiquid and channel those assets into the accounts without immediate cash outlays. Lawmakers will consider whether to permit founder stock and other appreciated assets, and whether limits or safeguards are needed to restrict tax benefits for a small group of donors.