WASHINGTON – On Monday, President Donald Trump had the unique opportunity to virtually ring the opening bells for both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, broadcasting from the revered Oval Office. This symbolic gesture underscores his administration’s deep link with the rise of the stock market.
Amid concerns of growing inflation impacting his approval ratings, President Trump has been redirecting public attention toward their 401(k) accounts, asserting that any thriving results should be attributed to his economic policies, especially as the crucial November midterm elections approach.
“Everything is progressing fantastically—records in the stock market are almost a daily occurrence,” Trump informed reporters before his departure aboard Air Force One. “Thank you, President Trump.”
However, a survey conducted in June by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research revealed that only 33% of American adults are satisfied with Trump’s handling of the economy.
Yet, the act of initiating the market day points to a key reason why Trump’s heavy reliance on market performance may not translate into voter support for his party in the upcoming fall elections.
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.
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.
But just as inflation crushed public support for Biden, Trump has also seen his approval fall prey to a cycle of rising prices. Trump won the 2024 election by promising to bring down costs, but his tariffs and the start of the war in Iran created new inflationary pressures.
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.
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