President-elect Donald Trump rang the Thursday at the after being recognized for the second time by Time magazine as its person of the year.
The honors for the businessman-turned-politician are a measure of Trump鈥檚 remarkable comeback from an ostracized former president who refused to accept his election loss four years ago to a president-elect who won the White House decisively in November.
Before he rang the opening bell at 9:30 a.m., a first for him, Trump spoke at the exchange and called it 鈥渁 tremendous honor.鈥
鈥淭ime Magazine, getting this honor for the second time, I think I like it better this time actually,鈥 he said.
Trump, accompanied by his wife, Melania Trump, daughters Ivanka and Tiffany and Vice President-elect JD Vance, grinned as people chanted 鈥淯SA鈥 before he opened the trading day. He then raised his fist.
In his remarks, he talked up some of the people he has named to his incoming administration, including Treasury pick Scott Bessent, and some of his announced policies, including a promise this week that the federal government will issue expedited permits, including environmental approvals, for projects and construction worth more than $1 billion.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e going to have a tremendous run. We have to straighten out some problems, some big problems in the world,鈥 he said.
Sam Jacobs, Time鈥檚 editor in chief, announced on NBC鈥檚 鈥淭oday鈥 show that Trump was Time鈥檚 2024 Person of the Year. Jacobs said Trump was someone who 鈥渇or better or for worse, had the most influence on the news in 2024.鈥
鈥淭his is someone who made an historic comeback, who reshaped the American presidency and who鈥檚 reordering American politics,鈥 Jacobs said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to argue with the fact that the person who鈥檚 moving into the Oval Office is the most influential person in news.鈥
In an interview with the magazine published Thursday, Trump spoke about his final campaign blitz and election win.
鈥淚 called it 鈥72 Days of Fury,鈥欌 Trump said. 鈥淲e hit the nerve of the country. The country was angry.鈥
Trump was on to mark the ceremonial start of the day鈥檚 trading. The Time magazine cover featuring him was projected onto a wall at the stock exchange, flanked by American flags.
Trump took the stage at the exchange flanked by family members and members of his incoming administration while his favored walk-on song, 鈥淕od Bless the U.S.A.,鈥 played.
Trump was also Time鈥檚 Person of the Year in 2016, when he was first elected to the White House. He was listed as a alongside notables including Vice President Kamala Harris, X owner Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kate, the Princess of Wales.
Jacobs, in making the announcement Thursday, said that 鈥渢here鈥檚 always a hot debate鈥 at the magazine over the honor, 鈥渁lthough I have to admit that this year was an easier decision than years past.鈥
The NYSE regularly invites celebrities and business leaders to participate in the 9:30 a.m. ceremonial opening trading. Thursday will be Trump鈥檚 first time doing the honors, which have become a marker of culture and politics.
Trump has long had a fascination with being on the cover of Time, where he first made an appearance in 1989. He has falsely claimed to hold the record for cover appearances, and that Trump had a fake picture of himself on the cover of the magazine hanging in several of his golf country clubs.
Earlier this year, Trump sat for interviews with the magazine for a story that ran in April. Time鈥檚 billionaire owner, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, criticized Harris for not granting the magazine an interview during her campaign with Trump.
In his latest interview published Thursday, Trump reiterated that he鈥檚 going to pardon most of those convicted in riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to start in the first hour,鈥 he said of the pardons. 鈥淢aybe the first nine minutes.鈥
Trump said he would not ask members of his administration to sign a loyalty pledge. 鈥淚 think I will be able to, for the most part, determine who鈥檚 loyal,鈥 he said. But he said he will fire anyone who doesn鈥檛 follow his policies.
On the war in Gaza, Trump said he wants to end the conflict and that Netanyahu knows it. When Trump was asked whether he trusted Netanyahu, he told Time: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 trust anybody.鈥
The incoming president also discussed his plans for mass deportations and argued he will have the authority to use the military to assist with the effort, even though, as the magazine notes, the Posse Comitatus Act forbids the deployment of the military against civilians.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 stop the military if it鈥檚 an invasion of our country,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檒l only do what the law allows, but I will go up to the maximum level of what the law allows.鈥
Trump crafted his image as a wealthy real estate developer, which he played up as the star of the TV reality show 鈥淭he Apprentice鈥 and during his presidential campaign. He about the economy鈥檚 ability to provide for the middle class.
In an interview on CNBC after he rang the bell, Trump likened the broad cuts to the federal workforce that he and his advisers have telegraphed to the TV firings he made of contestants.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be doing the same thing, I can tell you. Unfortunately, there鈥檚 too many of them,鈥 Trump said.
Afterward, he walked the floor of the exchange and shook hands with traders.