Donald Trump is widely known as a man who relishes superlatives and closely follows financial markets. But his role presiding over a historic first for Wall Street and the White House comes with a wrinkle.

The president’s newly-released financial disclosures will loom large as the world’s two leading stock exchanges bring a much-celebrated tradition to the Oval Office: the ringing of the opening bell.

Representatives from both marketplaces — the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange — are set to join forces in Washington on Monday to mark the opening of tax-deferred investment accounts for kids in the U.S.

Never before have both exchanges rung their symbolic opening bells together to commence the trading day.

The companies are uniting at the White Houseto recognize the availability of “Trump Accounts,” signed into law by the president last year, which will track with stock-market growth similar to retirement savings accounts. But the milestone coincides with public scrutiny over Trump’s finances and his family’s business dealings reaching a fever pitch, as shocking revelations reverberate from Wall Street to Washington.

More than 21,000 stock trades were executed on Trump’s behalf last year, according to a 927-page financial disclosure report published last week. Trump now has more known stock trades under his belt while in office than any of his predecessors by far. 

The president told CNBC in an interview on Thursday that his son, Eric Trump, manages his investments. “I don’t talk to him about things such as this. I think I’d be allowed to. I’m not sure even what the status is,” he added.

Asked about the volume of Trump’s trading activity in 2025, Kenny Polcari, chief market strategist at the investment firm SlateStone Wealth, said it “might be normal” for a high-net-worth individual who likes to trade.

“Do I think that’s normal?” Polcari asked. “No, I don’t think that’s normal. But nor do I think that anybody in an elected position should have the ability to trade stocks anyway.”

The vast majority of Americans agree that lawmakers should be banned from stock trading and that the president should be subject to conflict of interest restrictions, according to a Brennan Center survey published in June. Most Americans, regardless of political party, also consider corruption in politics a “big problem,” the poll found.

During his State of the Union address in February, Trump called on Congress to pass the Stop Insider Trading Act, which would place no restrictions on him or future presidents. Democrats prefer legislation that includes a presidential ban — effectively stalling efforts to pass the popular policy measure.

The president has frequently cited the stock market’s strong performance since he took office as a reflection of a thriving domestic economy, an achievement for which his party hopes to be rewarded in the upcoming midterm elections. The S&P 500, which tracks the performance of the biggest American companies, is up 25% since Trump took office in January 2025.

Analysts widely attribute it to growth in the tech sector, as investors bet on the rise of artificial intelligence. Polls, however, show that most Americans remain frustrated with the cost of living.

“People are feeling squeezed,” Stephen Moore, a Trump ally who served as senior economic adviser in his first term, acknowledged, although he believes most families are seeing higher wages. “There is a perception issue out there when people go to the grocery store, and when they go to the gas pump, or if they want to buy a new house, and they see these high prices, people do get angry, and I get that.”

The concept behind Trump Accounts, often referred to as baby bonds, has been championed by American economists from across the political spectrum to help young people build wealth early. Babies born in the U.S. between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, are eligible to receive $1,000 in their accounts.

The White House has been promoting the accounts for months, including hosting an event with Dell CEO Michael Dell, who donated nearly $6.3 billion to offer children 10 and under in low-income areas access to $250 automatically. Officials describe the program as a midterm selling point to young voters who are parents.

One downside, however, is that kids with a Trump account may become ineligible for other federal aid programs, such as student loans, in the future.

The first sitting president to ring a market opening bell was former President Ronald Reagan in 1985 at the New York Stock Exchange, where he sought to promote his free-market policies. In 2024, while president-elect, Trump rang the same bell at the invitation of the NYSE on the same day he was named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year.”

“It’s very fitting that Donald Trump should ring the bell in the 250th year of our country,” Moore said. “Among the many amazing attributes of our country has been this astonishing wealth creation, becoming by far the wealthiest country on Earth.”

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