Washington — President Donald Trump on Monday rang the opening bells of the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq from the golden confines of the Oval Office, a symbolic act that reflects how he has increasingly linked his presidency to the stock market.
With rising inflation hurting Trump’s popularity, the Republican president has tried to convince more Americans to focus on their 401(k) investments, claiming that his policies should take credit for any gains, especially with the midterm elections approaching in November.
“It’s going to go up — I think the market is going to go up,” Trump said after the official launch.
President Donald Trump rings the opening bell for the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, July 6, 2026, in Washington.
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
Only 33% of US adults approve of Trump’s economic leadership, according to a June poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
However, the ringing of the opening bell suggests why the president’s focus on the stock market may not help his party much woo voters this fall.
The Oval Office event was promoting the launch of Trump Accounts, which were created as a way for children to invest in stock indexes as part of the Republicans’ big 2025 tax cuts and spending bill.
Related to: Trump accounts start July 4: What parents need to know
In defense of these accounts, Treasury Secretary Scott Besent emphasized that many Americans do not have direct exposure to stocks.
This means that millions of people do not benefit from investments that accrue largely to wealthier families or that the benefits they receive are for retirement decades away.
“38% of American households have no exposure to our great stock markets,” Besant announced before the bell.
SThe &P 500 stock index recorded gains of 17.9% in 2025, but that came after annual returns of 25% in 2024 and 26.3% in 2023, during the presidency of Democrat Joe Biden. The benchmark stock index is up about 10% so far this year.
But just as inflation crushed public support for Biden, Trump also saw his approval fall prey to a cycle of rising prices. Trump won the 2024 election after promising to cut costs, but his tariffs and the start of the war in Iran created new inflationary pressures.
The CPI has risen 4.2% over the past 12 months, up from 3% when Trump began his second term in January 2025.
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