President Donald Trump rang the opening bells for both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq from the Oval Office on Monday, marking a historic first for both exchanges.
Neither the NYSE nor the Nasdaq had previously held the opening bell ceremony at the White House, nor had both exchanges ever launched the trading day together in the same event.
“It’s going to go up — I think the market’s going to go through the roof,” Trump declared after formally launching the start of trading from the Oval Office.
The event was centered on the promotion of Trump Accounts, a new investment vehicle created for children under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the sweeping tax and spending package signed into law last year.
Trump Accounts allow children 18 and younger to invest in stock indexes, with a one-time $1,000 pilot contribution from the U.S. Treasury for babies born between 2025 and 2028.
Trump said: “This is about the Trump Accounts, which are absolutely incredible for children. Children at the age of 18, and after, become very wealthy people — come into the world with essentially no money and end up at a pretty young age being very rich.”
Trump announced that on July 4th, the administration deposited seed contributions into accounts for over 500,000 American children, with millions more set to receive additional contributions from private donors.
Trump said: “On Saturday, July 4th, our administration deposited one-time seed contributions, $1,000 each, into the Trump Accounts of over 500,000 American children,” highlighting a $6.25 billion contribution made by Michael and Susan Dell, who contributed $250 to accounts for children 10 and under.
Trump also used the occasion to promote Dell computers ($DELL), and Dell stock surged more than 7% following the president’s remarks from the White House.
The event drew a roster of prominent executives and officials, including Altimeter Capital’s Brad Gerstner, Intercontinental Exchange ($ICE) CEO Jeffrey Sprecher, NYSE President Lynn Martin, Sen. Ted Cruz, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and SEC Chair Paul Atkins.
Bessent highlighted the broader financial inclusion argument for the accounts, stating that “38% of American families do not have any exposure to our great equity markets,” underscoring why the administration views the program as a meaningful economic policy.
The president has increasingly tied his political fortunes to stock market performance, encouraging Americans to focus on 401(k) gains as midterm elections draw closer amid persistent inflation pressures.
Despite his enthusiasm for equities, only 33% of U.S. adults approved of Trump’s economic leadership, according to a June survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The S&P 500 ($SPX) posted gains of 17.9% in 2025, though that followed annual returns of 25% in 2024 and 26.3% in 2023, both of which occurred during Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency.
