Trump to be honored as Time Person of the Year and to ring the New York Stock Exchange bell
NEW YORK– About six months ago, Donald Trump sat in a Lower Manhattan courtroom and listened to a jury make him the first former president convicted of a crime.
On Thursday, he will call the opening bell to the New York Stock Exchange just a few blocks from this courthouse and being recognized by Time magazine as Person of the Year.
The honors bestowed on the businessman-turned-politician represent the latest chapter in his love-hate relationship with New York. They also bear witness to the remarkable comeback of Trump, from an ostracized former president who refused to accept his election defeat four years ago to a president-elect who won the White House decisively in November.
Trump should be present Wall Street to mark the start of the day’s negotiating ceremony, according to four people with knowledge of his plans. He will also be announced Thursday as Time’s 2024 Person of the Year, according to a person familiar with the selection. The people who confirmed their appearance at the NYSE and the Time Award were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Trump was also Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 2016, when he was first elected to the White House. He was listed as a finalist for this year’s award alongside the likes of Vice President Kamala Harris, X owner Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kate, Princess of Wales.
Time could not confirm Trump’s selection before the announcement. Last year, the company’s CEO, Jessica Sibley, rang the NYSE opening bell to reveal the magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year: Taylor Swift.
The NYSE regularly invites celebrities and business leaders to participate in the 9:30 a.m. opening ceremony. Thursday will be the first time Trump makes the honors, which have become a cultural and political marker.
During Trump’s first term, his wife, Melania Trump, sounded off to promote his “Be Best” child welfare initiative.
Donald Trump’s trip to New York from his adopted Florida to sound the call of capitalism in the financial mecca caps a series of visits the former president has made to various locations in the city this year.
Aside from his obligatory presence at a downtown courthouse for his trial, Trump, who is ever sensitive to the art of the photo op, has held campaign events all over town: at a fire station , a bodega and a construction site. He also held a rally in the Bronx, among city venues where Trump made inroads during the election.
To mark the final stretch of his campaign, he held a high-octane rally at Madison Square Garden, which immediately drew backlash after the speakers took the floor. crude and racist insults and inflammatory remarks.
Trump has long been fascinated by the cover of Time, where he made his first appearance in 1989. He falsely claimed to hold the record for appearances on the cover, and The Washington Post reported in 2017 that Trump had a fake photo of himself on the cover of the magazine hanging in several of his country golf clubs.
Trump crafted his image as a wealthy real estate developer, which he played as a star of the reality TV show “The Apprentice” and during his presidential campaign. He won the election in part by channeling Americans’ concerns on the ability of the economy to provide for the needs of the middle class.
After the November 5 elections, the S&The P 500 rose 2.5% for its best day in almost two years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1,508 points, or 3.6%, while the Nasdaq composite jumped 3%. All three indexes surpassed the records they had set in previous weeks.
Trump, who often views the stock market as a measure of public support, has said his next term as president should be dated the day after the election so that gains can be attributed to him.
Trump’s campaign promises included commitments to achieving historic levels of economic growth, and the people he is selecting to fill his new administration are largely drawn from the business sector.
The broader business community applauded his promises to cut corporate taxes and reduce regulation. But there are also concerns about his stated intention to impose sweeping tariffs and possibly target companies he sees as not aligning with his own political interests.
The US stock market has always tended to rise whichever party wins the White House, with Democrats achieving higher average gains since 1945. But Republican control could mean big changes in winning and losing industries, and investors are increasing their earlier-built bets on what the higher tariffs, lower tax rates and lighter regulation what Trump favors will mean.
In light of his electoral victory, his lawyers sought conviction in Manhattan case be thrown away.
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Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.
