President-elect Donald Trump rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday.
“The New York Stock Exchange welcomes U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump, today, Thursday, December 12, 2024, to honor President-elect Donald J. Trump being named Time’s Person of the Year,” its website read.
This is the first time Trump has had the honors in his hometown despite his business acumen. Trump brought Vice President-elect J.D/ Vance, Health and Human Services Secretary appointee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his Treasury Secretary pick Scott Bessent, and Secretary of the Interior pick Doug Burgum. ICE CEO Jeff Sprecher, TIME CEO Jessica Sibley, and NYSE President Lynn Martin were also there for the occasion.
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A projection of Trump’s Time Magazine cover as the Person of the Year was projected on the NYSE floor along with American flags. Just before and after he rang the bell, the crowd chanted “U.S.A.”
“But it is an honor. This is a double because usually, they don’t coordinate the man of the year or the person of the year with the ringing of the bell. Brilliantly, you picked them both at the same time,” Trump said before ringing the bell. “I can just say that the economy, I believe, is going to be very strong. We do have to solve some problems.”
Melania Trump, the president-elect’s third wife, rang the bell during Trump’s first term in office. At the time, she was promoting her “Be Best” initiative. She was back there again with her husband on Thursday.
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Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter in the family, was also present to watch her father ring the bell. This is her first public appearance with her father in nearly two years, as she did not appear on the campaign trail. She occasionally attended UFC fights with her husband, Jared Kushner, alongside her father. Her half-sister Tiffany Trump was there Thursday after making some campaign appearances.
New York City is notably also where a jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records. The trial, which occurred blocks away from the NYSE, brought in court testimony that Trump paid hush money to multiple women in 2018 who claimed they had an affair with him.