On December 12, 2024, Donald Trump rang the bell to open the New York Stock Exchange, an act that felt less like a traditional ceremonial gesture and more like a grim confirmation of the era we’re living in. This wasn’t just a former president marking his place in history; it was a moment that epitomized the relentless media circus and the unshakable hold Trump still had on the American psyche.
The symbolism was hard to ignore. Here was a man whose presidency was defined by scandal, chaos, and an unchecked lust for power — now standing at the helm of one of the world’s most powerful financial institutions. The ringing of the bell, a ritual that’s usually reserved for figures of real economic accomplishment, was somehow both absurd and predictable. It was as if the markets themselves had absorbed the chaotic ethos of the Trump, where spectacle and attention-grabbing antics became the currency of power.
In many ways, Trump’s appearance at the NYSE was a strange kind of triumph — not for any financial insight or contribution he had made, but for the sheer durability of his influence. After years of litigation, scandal, and political polarization, Trump had managed to stay relevant. He had been out of office for nearly half a decade, but still, his presence was a kind of victory lap — not for what he had achieved, but for what he had disrupted.
It’s hard to escape the thought that the financial markets, much like the political world, had been co-opted by the very forces Trump had championed: media manipulation, populist outrage, and a twisted version of success.
His ringing of the bell wasn’t a sign of progress — it was a reminder that we’re still stuck in the chaos he created.