President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would create a sovereign fund, an asset basin like those who exist in other countries that can help pay regular funds to ordinary citizens.
However, all the details on the functioning of the fund was not immediately available. Trump made this announcement during an oval office ceremony. He had launched the idea of creating such a fund during his presidential campaign in 2024.
The Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, proposed brief remarks during the event describing the fund.
“It will be a combination of liquid assets, assets that we have in this country while we work … to bring them out for the American people,” he said.
Trump said that the secretary of commerce, Howard Lunick, is also involved in the position of the fund, which could take up to a year to establish. Lutnick said on Monday that the fund could possibly be used to help take control of Tiktok, although it has not offered details on how such an effort would work.
“The extraordinary size and scale of the American government and the company it makes with companies … should create value for American citizens,” said Lunick. “If we are going to buy 2 billion coids vaccines, we may have to have mandates and equity in these companies and that it increases for the help of the American people.”
Norway has the largest sovereign fund in the world. Oil income is needed and reinvested them in assets such as actions. Its current net value is equivalent to around $ 325,000 per Norwegian citizen.
The other countries with great sovereign funds include China, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Iran and Russia.
Alaska and Texas also have funds managed by the state.
A 2024 study From the Endowment of Carnegie for International Peace noted that without appropriate guarantees, such as governance and regulatory structures, sovereign funds can turn into “corruption, money laundering and other illicit activities” .
CORRECTION (February 3, 2025, 8:39 pm HE): a previous version of this article has misunderstood a quote. Howard Lunick said that US government transactions with companies “should create value for American citizens”, not Scott Bessent.