Donald Trump’s rise to fame began with his persona as a successful New York businessman, leading him to celebrity status, a reality TV show, and eventually the presidency. Now, he will have the opportunity to partake in one of the most iconic symbols of success in New York City by ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. This event coincides with his recognition as Time Magazine’s Person of the Year.
Trump is set to be present on Wall Street to kick off the day’s trading in a ceremonial fashion. Additionally, he is expected to be revealed as Time’s Person of the Year for 2024. Those privy to this information were not authorized to disclose it publicly and shared the details anonymously with The Associated Press.
This occasion marks a significant moment of dual distinctions for Trump, a native New Yorker who has often equated the stock market with public approval and has consistently valued symbols of success in New York’s business arena, including his appearances on magazine covers, particularly on Time.
Trump was named the magazine’s Person of the Year in 2016, when he was first elected to the White House. He had already been listed as a finalist for this year’s award alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, X owner Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kate, the Princess of Wales.
Time declined to confirm the selection ahead of Thursday morning’s announcement.
“Time does not comment on its annual choice for Person of the Year prior to publication,” a spokesperson for the magazine said Wednesday.
The ringing of the bell is a powerful symbol of U.S. capitalism – and a good New York photo opportunity at that. Despite his decades as a New York businessman, Trump has never done it before.
It was unclear whether Trump, a Republican, would meet with New York’s embattled mayor, Democrat Eric Adams, who has warmed to Trump and has not ruled out changing his political party. Adams has been charged with federal corruption crimes and accused of selling influence to foreign nationals; he has denied wrongdoing.
Trump himself was once a symbol of New York, but he gave up living full-time in his namesake Trump Tower in Manhattan and moved to Florida after leaving the White House.
CNN first reported Wednesday Trump’s visit to the stock exchange and Politico reported that Trump was expected to be unveiled as Time’s Person of the Year.
The stock exchange regularly invites celebrities and business leaders to participate in the ceremonial opening and closing of trading. During Trump’s first term, his wife, Melania Trump, rang the bell to promote her “Be Best” initiative on children’s well-being.
Last year, Time CEO Jessica Sibley rang the opening bell to unveil the magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year: Taylor Swift.
After the Nov. 5 election, the S&P 500 rallied 2.5% for its best day in nearly two years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1,508 points, or 3.6%, while the Nasdaq composite jumped 3%. All three indexes topped records they had set in recent weeks.
The U.S. stock market has historically tended to rise regardless of which party wins the White House, with Democrats scoring bigger average gains since 1945. But Republican control could mean big shifts in the winning and losing industries underneath the surface, and investors are adding to bets built earlier on what the higher tariffs, lower tax rates and lighter regulation that Trump favors will mean.
Trump has long courted the business community based on his own status as a wealthy real estate developer who gained additional fame as the star of the TV show “The Apprentice” in which competitors tried to impress him with their business skills. He won the election in part by tapping into Americans’ deep anxieties about an economy that seemed unable to meet the needs of the middle class.
The larger business community has applauded his promises to reduce corporate taxes and cut regulations. But there are also concerns about his stated plans to impose broad tariffs and possibly target companies that he sees as not aligning with his own political interests.
Trump spends the bulk of his time at his Florida home but was in New York for weeks this spring during his hush money trial there. He was convicted, but his lawyers are pushing for the case to be thrown out in light of his election.
While he spent hours in a Manhattan courthouse every day during his criminal trial, Trump took his presidential campaign to the streets of the heavily Democratic city, holding a rally in the Bronx and popping up at settings for working-class New Yorkers: a bodega, a construction site and a firehouse.
Trump returned to the city in September to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Manhattan tower and again in the final stretch of the presidential campaign when he held a rally at Madison Square Garden that drew immediate blowback as speakers made rude and racist insults and incendiary remarks.
At the stock exchange, the ringing of the bell has been a tradition since the 1800s. The first guest to do it was a 10-year-old boy named Leonard Ross, in 1956, who won a quiz show answering questions about the stock market.
Many times, companies listing on the exchange would ring the bell at 9:30 a.m. to commemorate their initial offerings as trading began. But the appearances have become an important marker of culture and politics — something that Trump hopes to seize as he’s promised historic levels of economic growth.
The anti-apartheid advocate and South African President Nelson Mandela rang the bell, as has Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone with his castmates from the film “The Expendables.” So, too, have the actors Robert Downey Jr. and Jeremy Renner for an “Avengers” movie and the Olympians Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin.
In 1985, Ronald Reagan became the first sitting U.S. president to ring the bell.
“With tax reform and budget control, our economy will be free to expand to its full potential, driving the bears back into permanent hibernation,” Reagan said at the time. “We’re going to turn the bull loose.”
The crowd of traders on the floor chanted, “Ronnie! Ronnie! Ronnie!”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed in 1985 and 1986, but it suffered a decline in October 1987 in an event known as “Black Monday.”
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Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.
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