President Donald Trump on Monday rang the opening bells of the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq from the Oval Office to mark the launch of Trump Accounts, a new investment programme for children created under Republicans’ 2025 tax and spending law.The symbolic ceremony came as Trump continued to highlight the stock market as a measure of the US economy ahead of the November midterm elections, despite public concern over inflation and the cost of living.In a public statement, White House announced, “FOR THE FIRST TIME FROM THE OVAL: President Donald J. Trump rings the NYSE and Nasdaq opening bell to officially launch http://TRUMPACCOUNTS.GOV!”The Trump Accounts programme is designed to enable children to invest in stock index funds. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the initiative seeks to broaden participation in equity markets, noting that a large share of American households have no direct exposure to stocks. “38% of American families do not have any exposure to our great equity markets,” he said.Speaking after formally opening trading, Trump expressed confidence in the market’s outlook. “It’s going to go up — I think the market’s going to go through the roof.”Trump has increasingly pointed to stock market gains as evidence of his economic policies. However, inflation has continued to weigh on his approval ratings. According to a June survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, only 33 per cent of US adults approve of his handling of the economy.The S&P 500 has recorded strong gains in recent years, rising 26.3 per cent in 2023, 25 per cent in 2024 and 17.9 per cent in 2025. The benchmark index has gained about 10 per cent so far this year. Trump also joked that the investment programme should have been launched earlier. “We should have acted faster,” he said.
