President Donald Trump rang the opening bells for the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq from the Oval Office on Monday as he formally launched new government-backed investment accounts for children, the White House said.
Trump promoted the so-called Trump Accounts as part of Republicans’ 2025 tax and spending cuts bill and urged Americans to focus on their 401(k) investments. “It’s going to go up — I think the market’s going to go through the roof,” he said after officially starting trading.
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. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking before the bell ringing, said the accounts aim to broaden stock ownership and that “38% of American families do not have any exposure to our great equity markets.”
Market data show the S&P 500 posted gains of 17.9% in 2025 after annual returns of 25% in 2024 and 26.3% in 2023, and has risen roughly 10% so far this year. Official data show the consumer price index rose 4.2% over the past 12 months, up from 3% when Trump began his second term in January 2025.
The White House said the accounts have drawn large private pledges beyond a $1,000 government seed grant. Michael Dell and his wife, Susan, appeared with Trump and have pledged $6.25 billion, the White House said. Investor Ray Dalio and SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell have made separate commitments, and Shotwell said Monday she would donate stock in SpaceX to the accounts. Trump joked that children had missed some market gains while the accounts were delayed, saying, “We should have acted faster.”
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
