MARIETTA, Ga.—President Donald Trump cautioned against communist ideologies and promoted investment accounts for children on July 22 while speaking to a standing-room-only crowd filled with supporters at Wheeler High School near Atlanta.
He said that recent elections in New York suggest a rising tide of communism across the Democratic Party, and urged Republicans to vote in the midterm elections in November.
“We have some great candidates running,” Trump said. “They’ve got to win by a lot, otherwise we're going communist.”
Communism leads to “absolute squalor, turmoil, and death,” he told the crowd.
“It goes back thousands of years by different names, but that's the way it happens all the time. It's squalor. It's poverty. It's death. It's destruction,” Trump said. “And that's why we declare again today that the United States of America will never be a communist country.”
The president championed the newly launched Trump Accounts, which automatically include $1,000 investments for American children born between 2025 and 2028 and allow parents to open accounts for any child and contribute up to $5,000 annually.
“By the time they are just young adults, they could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, most likely will be,” Trump said.
“For decades, Washington politicians gave our children absolutely nothing but debt, but [with] the Trump accounts, we're finally seeing and ensuring that every young American gets a great start in life and a really fair shot at the American dream, which is what we all want; they all aspire to that.”
More than seven million children have the new investment accounts, now that “the government is finally giving money back to our children,” he said.
Local families benefiting from the administration’s policies were in attendance, including Cole and Allison Loden, recent first-time homebuyers.
“As a father, it’s encouraging to know that our children’s future can begin with an investment from day one,” Cole, who played college football at nearby Kennesaw State University, told the audience. “To every eligible new parent, I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity by opening a Trump Account for your child and continue to invest in it each and every year.”
Trump Accounts are meant to inspire confidence in investing while teaching young Americans about fiscal literacy and how to benefit from compound interest.
The president thanked the parents who “believe in teaching their children the importance of self-reliance,” while challenging political opponents that he suggests are pushing dangerous ideologies.
“While our administration is lifting up the next generation with the power of freedom and American capitalism, proven all over the world when it’s done right … the radical left is actively trying to destroy our children’s future with the disaster known as communism,” the president said.
Georgia gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson touted the accounts, particularly the efforts led by First Lady Melania Trump as part of her Fostering the Future initiative, which aims to open accounts for every child in foster care by December 2027.
“What you’re doing on the Trump Accounts for foster children will change lives,” Jackson, who rose from the foster system to become a billionaire business leader, said before telling the audience that if elected governor, he would encourage the state to match federal contributions.
“I believe our legislature will approve that. If they don’t, I will personally donate it myself.”
Trump applauded the announcement while endorsing his friend.
He also stumped for Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) in his Senate race against incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), highlighting that Collins will help bring money back to the state.
Politically competitive Cobb County, where Trump gave his speech, is an important battleground area that both major parties are concentrating on as the midterms approach. Thousands of protesters waving “No Kings” signs filled sidewalks nearby, the crowd size swelling as the day progressed.
Earlier in the day, Trump attended a dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, receiving the bodies of four U.S. Army members killed in action in the Iran war.
The president honored the soldiers during his Georgia speech, introducing Sherry and Steven Feehan, the parents of slain 25-year-old First Lieutenant Tyler Feehan, who was killed when an Iranian missile struck a U.S. military base in Jordan on July 18.
“This is a son who was like a flawless, perfect person, beautiful, beautiful son, handsome in every way, brilliant, respected by everybody,” Trump said, noting that Feehan was on his way to becoming a general.
The president said the Feehans joined him aboard Air Force One after he surprised them with an invitation, as they live near Atlanta.