"President Donald Trump issued an executive order tasking his Treasury and Commerce departments with coming up with a plan for the US's own sovereign wealth fund.
Most Americans are more familiar with public pension funds, which invest retirement savings for millions of teachers and other city, county, and state employees.
They may fund government services, direct payments to citizens, a rainy-day fund, or specific infrastructure projects. A version can be found in oil-rich Alaska, where its $80 billion sovereign wealth fund pays an annual dividend to residents, shelling out more than $900 million in 2024.
But even without a surplus, a US sovereign wealth fund could be realistic — and successful — without increasing debt or raising taxes.
James Broughel, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit that advocates for deregulation, pointed out that the fact sheet accompanying the executive order alludes to $5.7 trillion in existing assets. The US, for instance, is the nation's largest landowner with nearly 30% of the acreage.
"A lot of the worries seem to be related to the idea that it might increase the national debt, or this might lead to more borrowing and fiscal instability," Broughel said. "The fact that they seem to be focused on existing assets that the federal government controls — I view that as a positive development."
Buying stakes in companies such as TikTok and other such investments would most likely require legislation, but changing how existing assets are managed — tapping natural resources and housing data centers on federal land, for instance — most likely wouldn't.
"The US does have considerable natural resource wealth," Broughel said, noting that the US is now the largest oil producer in the world. He added, "There is a case to be made that we should take better care of the assets we have and be better stewards for maintaining their value over time and preserving them for future generations." BusinessInsider
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