The White House is set to bring the New York Stock Exchange opening bell into the Oval Office next week, tying a ceremonial moment on Wall Street to the July 4 launch of Trump Accounts. The program is designed to support children’s long-term financial security
By 9:30 a.m. ET, Wall Street usually knows exactly what day it is—because the bells tell it. Next week, that ritual is expected to cross Pennsylvania Avenue, with the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq participating in what would be the first joint opening bell ceremony from the Oval Office.
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said the ceremony is scheduled for next week during remarks on June 29. “We’re having a big opening bell ceremony next week,” he told CNBC. “They’re doing that to celebrate the accounts to make sure everybody knows it’s time to get an account for your kid. even if it’s not born this year.”.
The two exchanges keep the same trading hours—9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET—even though the bell traditions differ. The NYSE. whose bell ceremony dates back to the 1870s. originally used a Chinese gong to mark the start and end of the trading day. In 1903. when the NYSE moved to a new location on Wall Street. the gong was replaced by four electric brass bells corresponding to four trading areas of the exchange. Those bells strike simultaneously when a button is pushed, according to NYSE.
Nasdaq’s bell, by contrast, is rung by pressing a ceremonial electronic button at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square. It often functions as a branding moment for corporations, with executives invited to press the button.
The White House did not respond immediately to questions about the exact date of the event or which bell would be used in the Oval Office setting.
Trump Accounts will officially launch on July 4. positioning the ceremony as a high-visibility kickoff for a federal program aimed at building long-term financial security for children. Under the plan. the government will contribute $1. 000 for all children born in 2025 through 2028—covering the four years of Trump’s second presidential term—so long as the child has a Social Security number. The program stems from the tax and spending package passed last summer.
The structure also gives families a way to add money over time. Families can contribute $5,000 annually, and employers can contribute $2,500 per year per employee until the child turns 18.
There is also a clear through-line in how Trump’s team has used the bell in the past. Trump made his first-ever appearance to ring the NYSE opening bell on Dec. 12, 2024, standing alongside incoming administration leadership after he was named Time’s Person of the Year.
On Jan. 28, first lady Melania Trump rang the NYSE bell after the completion of the first year of Trump’s second term and ahead of the release of her documentary. The film, titled “Melania,” documented her life in the 20 days leading up to Trump’s second inauguration.
The sequence now moving toward July 4 is unmistakable: a program built around accounts for children is being paired with the opening-bell spectacle, and the White House is preparing to borrow the symbolic power of Wall Street’s daily start.
For traders, the exchange calendars will still read the same. For families, the question is whether the ceremony’s visibility turns into action—pushing parents to “get an account for your kid,” even when a child “isn’t born this year,” as Hassett put it—before the July 4 launch window arrives.
NYSE Nasdaq Oval Office opening bell Trump Accounts Kevin Hassett White House Social Security number July 4 launch financial security for children