President Donald Trump said Monday he would create a sovereign wealth fund, a pool of assets like those that exist in other countries that can help pay out regular funds to ordinary citizens.
However, full details on how the fund would work were not immediately available. Trump made the announcement in an Oval Office ceremony. He had floated the idea of creating such a fund during his 2024 presidential campaign.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered brief remarks at the event outlining the fund.
‘It will be a combination of liquid assets, assets that we have in this country as we work … to bring them out for the American people,’ he said.
Trump said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick would also be involved in standing up the fund, which could take as long as a year to establish. Lutnick said Monday that the fund could possibly be used to help take over TikTok, though he did not offer details about how such an endeavor would work.
“The extraordinary size and scale of the U.S. government and the business it does with companies … should create value for American citizens,â€� Lutnick said. “If we are going to buy 2 billion Covid vaccines, maybe we should have some warrants and some equity in these companies and have that grow for the help of the American people.â€�
Norway has the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. It takes oil revenues and reinvests them in assets like stocks. Its current net worth is equivalent to approximately $325,000 per Norwegian citizen.
Other countries with large sovereign wealth funds include China, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Iran and Russia.
Alaska and Texas also have state-run funds.
A 2024 study from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace found that without proper safeguards, such as governance and regulatory structures, sovereign wealth funds can turn into ‘conduits of corruption, money laundering, and other illicit activities.’
CORRECTION (Feb. 3, 2025, 8:39 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misattributed a quotation. Howard Lutnick said the U.S. government’s transactions with companies “should create value for American citizens,� not Scott Bessent.
