“This is an important day for our country and for the first lady,” said Mark Beckman, acting senior adviser to first lady Melania Trump. Breitbart News DailyPreviewing a new foster care initiative that aims to give foster youth financial resources as they enter adulthood.
Beckman told host Mike Slater before the 11 a.m. Eastern event at the Treasury Department that the first lady is “again driving measurable results for our country” and described her as “an action-oriented leader” who is focused on “protecting our American children.”
Beckman said the first lady is “getting back on the front lines of foster care” as the US launches “Fostering the Future Accounts”, calling the effort “her idea” and saying she “created this new financial resource” to help young people become “financially autonomous” as they reach adulthood.
“We’re giving foster kids the same opportunity for asset ownership and long-term wealth building that every other American child has,” Beckman said. He said the overarching goal is to “help strengthen America’s workforce, our communities and our economic future.”
Asked how the accounts would work, Beckman said foster youth often “move from one home to another, from one family to another” and that the initiative creates an “opportunity for ownership” through “a portable account” of the young person. “It’s theirs, it’s their property, it’s about ownership,” he said.
Beckman said the “United States” is giving states “the ability to set up an account” and said that “23 states, all red states,” have “already committed” to funding the accounts. “Once they are funded, these individuals can access them when they reach the age of maturity and use them as they wish,” he said.
The senior adviser said these accounts complement the First Lady’s education support to foster youth through the “Fostering the Future Scholarship.” Beckman said the combination of education assistance and a financial account “allows these individuals to become independently wealthy, and they can go and take care of themselves.”
Slater asked about a separate artificial intelligence event hosted by the first lady. Beckman said Trump had launched a “nationwide AI challenge” and called it “the largest American youth AI initiative.”
“We had 20,000 students, counselors, teachers participating from all 50 states, plus D.C. and Puerto Rico,” Beckman said. He said that the six winners of the K-12 competition came to the White House on Tuesday to receive their awards from the First Lady.
Beckman said the AI initiative aims to “move the concept from policy and discussion to empowerment”, allowing students to build artificial intelligence platforms. “Kids built apps,” he said, noting that the projects touched on “health care,” “friendship,” and “public policy.”
“They perform, they put in the work, and as a result, these kids win all kinds of awards,” Beckman said, adding that the students received “money awards” as well as awards from “Amazon and Dell.”
Beckman said the involvement of thousands of youth in AI initiatives could help prepare the country for future competition. “We now have 20,000 people through 12 future adults in the US who are learning to use AI,” he said, adding that such efforts could help make the country a leader in “economy”, “cultural issues” and “defense and military”.
“With Funding the Future Accounts, we need to fund these accounts now,” Beckman said. He said the initiative “should not be an issue of partisanship.”
“We’re just talking about the future of America,” Beckman said. “These kids don’t even know red versus blue.”
Beckman called on additional governors and private sector supporters to participate in this effort.
“We need every governor who is listening to your show to sign on and participate if they haven’t done so yet, as well as the private sector,” he said, adding, “We can accept private sector money to support our next generation.”
When asked how people can get in touch, Beckman said they can contact him directly on X, LinkedIn and Instagram.
