Trump will ring the New York Stock Exchange bell for the first time

President-elect Donald Trump will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, the ceremonial start of the trading day, according to four people with knowledge of his plans.

It will be a notable moment of recognition for Trump, a native New Yorker who stopped living full-time in his iconic Trump Tower in Manhattan and moved to Florida. The U.S. stock market soared after Trump won the 2024 election, in part by capitalizing on Americans’ concerns about the economy.

The ringing of the bell is a powerful symbol of American capitalism, and a great photo opportunity in New York. According to the NYSE calendar, Trump has never done it before.

Trump has not been back to New York much since he was convicted in a trial there earlier this year. His lawyers are pushing for the case to be dismissed entirely in light of his choice.

The people who confirmed the ringing of the bell were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. It was unclear whether Trump, a Republican, would meet with New York Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, while he is in the city.

The stock exchange regularly invites celebrities and business leaders to participate in the ceremonial opening and closing of trading. During Trump’s first presidential term, his wife, Melania Trump, rang the bell to promote her “Be Best” initiative to promote child well-being.

After the Nov. 5 election, the S&P 500 soared 2.5% on its best day in nearly two years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,508 points, or 3.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 3%. All three indexes surpassed the records they had set in recent weeks.

The U.S. stock market has historically tended to rise regardless of which party wins the White House, with Democrats making bigger gains, on average, since 1945. But Republican control could mean big changes in winning and losing industries, and Investors are raising bets on what the higher tariffs, lower tax rates and lighter regulation Trump favors will mean.

Ringing the bell has been a tradition since the 19th century. The first guest to do so was a 10-year-old boy named Leonard Ross, in 1956, who won a quiz show about the stock market.

Many times, publicly traded companies would ring the bell at 9:30 in the morning to commemorate their initial offerings as they began trading. But the appearances have become an important marker of culture and politics, something Trump hopes to capitalize on as he has promised historic levels of economic growth.

Anti-apartheid advocate and South African President Nelson Mandela rang the bell, as did Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone with his co-stars from the movie “The Expendables.” Actors Robert Downey Jr. and Jeremy Renner also did it for an “Avengers” movie and Olympians Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin.

In 1985, Ronald Reagan became the first sitting president of the United States to ring the bell.

“With tax reform and budget control, our economy will be free to expand to its full potential, putting the bears (the bear market) back into permanent hibernation,” Reagan said at the time.

The crowd on the floor chanted: ”Ronnie! Ronnie! “Ronnie!”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose in 1985 and 1986, but suffered a crash in October 1987 in an event known as “Black Monday.”

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