Trump rings Wall Street’s opening bells as he ties his presidency to stock market gains

Trump rings Wall Street’s opening bells as he ties his presidency to stock market gains 1 of 2 | President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office at the White House, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) 2 of 2 | Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at an event about Trump Accounts for children in foster care at the Department of Treasury, Thursday, June 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert) 1 of 2 | President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office at the White House, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) 1 of 2 President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office at the White House, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 2 | Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at an event about Trump Accounts for children in foster care at the Department of Treasury, Thursday, June 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert) 2 of 2 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at an event about Trump Accounts for children in foster care at the Department of Treasury, Thursday, June 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday gets to ring the opening bells for the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq from the golden confines of the Oval Office, a symbolic act that reflects how he has increasingly tied his presidency to the stock market.With high inflation hurting Trump’s popularity, the Republican president has tried to get more Americans to focus on their 401(k) investments, claiming that his policies should get the credit for any gains, particularly as the November midterm elections draw closer.“It’s all going well — the stock market is setting records virtually every day,” Trump told reporters on last week before boarding Air Force One. “Thank you, President Trump.”Only 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s economic leadership, according to a June survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The act of ringing the opening bell suggests why the president’s emphasis on the stock market might not help his party much with voters this fall.The Oval Office event is aimed at promoting the launch of Trump Accounts, which were created as a vehicle for children to have investments in stock indexes as part of Republicans’ big 2025 tax and spending cuts bill. In championing the accounts, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has emphasized that many Americans have no direct exposure to stocks. 5 MIN READ 3 MIN READ 2 MIN READ This means that millions of people are not benefiting from investments that largely accrue to more affluent households or that the benefits they’re receiving are for retirements decades away. “Today, 38% of American adults do not own stocks,” Bessent said last December. “But with Trump Accounts, over time, we can get that number down to zero.”The S&P 500 stock index posted 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 has risen roughly 10% so far this year. The consumer price index has climbed 4.2% over the past 12 months, up from 3% when Trump started his second term in January 2025.