Trump Rings NYSE Bell and is Time’s Person of the Year

What Happened?

President-elect Donald Trump took center stage on Wall Street Thursday after he rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in Lower Manhattan.

Crowd attendees cheered and even began chanting 'U-S-A,' as Trump, incoming first lady Melania Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance, NYSE President Lynn Martin, and two of his children, Ivanka and Tiffany Trump, waved and called the moment 'a tremendous honor.'

This comes after he also graced the cover of Time magazine for the second time as 'Person of the Year.'

Trump, soon to be the 47th president of the United States, has committed himself to business leaders and stock traders through his campaign, vowing to create an economic boom when he enters his second term in office.

‘I think we’re going to have a tremendous run,’ Trump told the crowd. ‘We have to straighten out some problems, some big problems in the world.’

Trump also repeated his vow to slash the corporate tax rate and told CNBC, ‘You pay 21% if you don’t build here. If you do, we’re going to try and get it to 15%, but you have to build your product, make your product in the USA.’

This week, Trump took to Truth Social, making a promise that:

‘Any person or company investing one billion dollars, or more, in the United States of America, will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all environmental approvals.’

He ended his message by exclaiming, 'GET READY TO ROCK!!!'

Why it Matters

The stock market has gained momentum since the news that Trump is heading back to the White House on January 20, 2025.

In addition to filling his next administration with billionaire influencers like Elon Musk, Trump is establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk will co-chair DOGE alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

The program will aim to slash government spending and regulations. It will offer guidance, not as a federal agency but on the outside while collaborating with the White House and the Office of Management and Budget to drive reform structure.

A Trump and Musk tandem has many investors on Wall Street excited about what the economic future holds for the U.S.

In the past week, reports show that Trump has picked several other billionaire influencers to help lead his new administration.

That includes investor Stephen Feinberg as deputy defense secretary, venture capitalist David Sacks as the White House A.I. & Crypto Czar, CEO Jared Isaacman to head NASA, and financial services CEO Warren Stephens as his ambassador to the U.K., to name a few.

How it Affects You

Some may worry that Trump is loading up his team of members from the 1% upper-class economic status, and that the new administration could be out of touch with the struggles faced by the middle and working-class.

But Musk and Ramaswamy want to wrap up their work with DOGE by 2026, as stated in a post on social platform X.

Many would say there are big tasks ahead to cut a projected $2 trillion of federal spending, that’s nearly one-third of total government spending.

In the fiscal year 2024, the U.S. government spent $6.75 trillion, which resulted in a national deficit.

As Americans plan their own budgets, it will be critical to see where government cuts may occur, and the impacts they could have on investors and the working class.