President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the idea of a "baby bonus" as a means to jump-start birth rates in the United States "sounds like a good idea to me."
Trump's answer to a question posed in the Oval Office came amid a New York Times report Monday that said the White House has been brainstorming ideas to reverse the country's declining birth rate.
One called for a $5,000 "baby bonus," which Trump responded to. Another proposal would see 30% of Fulbright scholarships reserved for applicants who are married or have children. Yet another would fund programs to educate women about menstrual cycles, the Times reported.
Birth rates in the U.S. have been declining since 2007 and fell to 3.6 million in 2023, down 2% from 2022, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Vice President JD Vance spoke frequently on the campaign trail of wanting "more babies" in the country, hammering Democrats for becoming what he called "anti-family" and "anti-kid" and building that into their policies.
Now conservative policy experts and advocates are sharing ideas with the White House on building pro-family policy, according to the Times.
"I just think this administration is inherently pronatalist," activist Simone Collins told the Times. "Look at the number of kids that major leaders in the administration have," she said, adding: "You didn't hear about kids in the same way under [former President Joe] Biden."
Collins sent a draft executive order that would bestow a "National Medal of Motherhood" to women with six or more children, the Times reported.
"The President wants America to be a country where all children can safely grow up and achieve the American dream," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Times in a statement. "As a mother myself, I am proud to work for a president who is taking significant action to leave a better country for the next generation."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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