President-elect Donald Trump rang the New York Stock Exchange’s (ICE) opening bell on Thursday, a first for the longtime businessman and two-time presidential election winner.
The ceremonial opening of trading also coincided with Trump being named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year,” a distinction he was also given in 2016 after he won that year’s election. His victory in November made him only the second person in U.S. history to win non-consecutive presidential elections and put him in a position to help determine the course of the country — and the world — over the next four years.
“For marshaling a comeback of historic proportions, for driving a once-in-a- generation political realignment, for reshaping the American presidency and altering America’s role in the world, Donald Trump is TIME’s 2024 Person of the Year,” wrote Time Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs.
Ringing bell is a significant event for Trump, a native New Yorker who began his real estate career at his father’s company, which focused on residential projects in Brooklyn and Queens. Under Trump, the business moved on to major projects, including Manhattan’s Trump Tower and projects across the country.
Although ringing in the bell is a first for Trump, it’s not for other members of his family.
His wife Melania Trump rang the opening bell in 2019 to promote her “Be Best” initiative to combat cyber-bulling. His son Donald Trump Jr. was on stage when PublicSq CEO Michael Seifert rang the bell in July 2023 to celebrate the “anti-woke” company’s public launch.
Behind Trump as he delivered a speech at the NYSE on Thursday was a veritable who’s-who of his family and inner circle.
Besides his wife and daughters, Ivanka Trump and Tiffany Trump, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and several of his cabinet nominees were beside him. That included Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick, Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Interior Secretary nominee Doug Burgum, and Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent.
“This is an honor, a tremendous honor,” Trump said, touting both his presence at the NYSE and Time’s nod, as well as the strength of the stock market. “Usually, they don’t coordinate the man of the year, or person of the year, with the ringing of the bell. Brilliantly, you picked them both at the same time.”
In 2023, Time CEO Jessica Sibley rang the opening bell to reveal last year’s Person of The Year, which was Taylor Swift.
Trump also promoted a promise he made on Tuesday to expedite permits for any individual or company that invests $1 billion in the U.S., which he said was “in no way limited to All environmental approvals,” as well as his energy plans.
Trump has pledged to boost domestic oil and gas production, open new land for drilling, and slash regulations. At an October rally in New York, his last big visit to the state, Trump promised to achieve energy independence and slash energy prices in half within a year of January 20, 2025,” by ramping up drilling for oil and natural gas.
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