For a man who rose to fame in the gilded yuppie era of New York City, today’s ringing the bell to open the stock exchange, and being named Person of the Year by Time, must have a certain appeal.
By many standards, Donald J. Trump has lived a remarkable American life.
He’s flaunted his wealth, lost much of it, then gained it back again. He’s won a presidential election, lost one, and come back to win another. He’s been loved and hated, married and divorced, tried and convicted, shot at and lived.
But there was one symbolic milestone the president-elect and lover of all things gilded had not achieved, until this morning: ringing the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange.
Flanked by his daughters, Ivanka and Tiffany, his wife, Melania, and his vice president-elect, JD Vance, among others, Mr. Trump opened trading at the world’s largest stock exchange to cries of “U.S.A.!” He stood against a backdrop of Time magazine’s just-announced Person of the Year issue, which features, yes, Mr. Trump on the cover. Clapping lasted for more than a minute, with Mr. Trump smiling, pumping his fist and clapping along with them.
It was a red letter day for Mr. Trump, ever fond of superlatives, who built his brand on magazine covers and money.
In his remarks from the bell podium, Mr. Trump addressed both of the distinctions, calling the bell ringing “a tremendous honor” and his Person of the Year cover “better this time” (he also got the cover in 2016, after his first election win.)
