DONALD Trump rang the New York Stock Exchange’s opening bell on Thursday (Dec 12), a celebratory moment for the president-elect who was returned to the White House in an election in which the US economy took centre stage.
Trump used the occasion to make a fresh round of pledges to cut taxes, a key priority for many of the political donors and business leaders gathered on the NYSE trading floor.
The president-elect vowed to lower the corporate rate to 15 per cent from 21 per cent and said he’s talking with his advisers about cutting levies on capital gains and dividends, changes that would be well-received by investors and would likely spur a market bump.
“I really wanted to get it down to 15, and we’ll be able to do that,” Trump said about the corporate rate in an interview with CNBC moments after ringing the bell. “We’re going to be cutting taxes still further.”
Trump also promised to do “something great with crypto.” He’s pledged to slash federal rules and has begun naming regulators, including Paul Atkins to the Securities and Exchange Commission, who are seen as being friendly to the digital asset industry.
Thursday’s event marked Trump’s being named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year.” The publication bestowed the title on the incoming president for his stunning political comeback in November’s election which saw him win a second term and Republicans gain control of both chambers of Congress.
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Trump was joined by many of his most prominent Cabinet nominees, including Treasury pick Scott Bessent, the founder of Key Square Group; Commerce pick Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald; Robert F Kennedy Jr, his selection for health secretary; North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, who is being tapped for the Interior Department; Kelly Loeffler, his choice for the Small Business Administration; and his vice-president-elect JD Vance, among others.
Trump emerged to applause from the trading floor and chants of “USA.” He stood next to Intercontinental Exchange CEO Jeffrey Sprecher as he rang the bell.
Ahead of the opening, Trump spoke at the exchange, using the opportunity to tout the populist economic agenda he campaigned on. He said his policies would bring jobs and praised the Cabinet picks who joined him at the event.
“The economy, I believe, is going to be very strong,” Trump said.
Thursday’s event, at an iconic centre of American capitalism, was rich in symbolism for a leader who frequently uses the stock market as a gauge of success for his economic policies.
“I think I’ve always said, to me, the stock market is all of it,” Trump told CNBC.
Trump Agenda
Trump campaigned on a sweeping populist agenda, heavy on tax cuts and benefits and slashing regulation, that won him the support of Wall Street and business leaders. Polls show that voters this year favoured Trump based on his pledges to expand the economy.
Even as markets performed well under President Joe Biden, Trump frequently claimed on the campaign trail that those gains were because traders believed that the Republican would return to the White House.
Investors have seen the S&P 500 rise since the election as they cheer the president-elect’s plans to cut taxes and deregulate. Still the market run threatens to be tested by Trump’s tariff threats against major trading partners.
Trump has proposed wide-ranging new tariffs against allies and adversaries alike that mainstream economists warn could raise prices for US households and businesses and redirect or reduce global trade flow. And he’s pledged that he will enact a massive deportation of undocumented migrants that has also worried some business leaders. BLOOMBERG
