New York: About six months ago, Donald Trump was sitting in a courtroom in lower Manhattan listening to a jury make him the first former president convicted of a crime. On Thursday, he will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange just blocks from that courthouse and be recognised by Time magazine as its person of the year. The honours for the businessman-turned-politician represent the latest chapter in his love-hate relationship with New York. They're also a measure of Trump's 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.
Trump is expected to be on Wall Street to mark the ceremonial start of the day's trading, according to four people with knowledge of his plans, news agency AP reported. He will also be announced on Thursday as Time's 2024 Person of the Year, according to a person familiar with the selection. The people who confirmed the NYSE appearance and Time award were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Time's Person of the Year in 2016
Trump was also Time'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 notables including Vice President Kamala Harris, X owner Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kate, the Princess of Wales. Time declined to confirm the selection of Trump before the announcement. Last year, the company's CEO Jessica Sibley rang the NYSE opening bell to unveil 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. ceremonial opening trading. Thursday will be Trump's first time doing the honours, which have become a marker of culture and politics. During Trump's first term, his wife, Melania Trump, rang the bell to promote her “Be Best” initiative on children's well-being.
Trump's trip to New York from his adopted home of Florida to sound the call of capitalism in the mecca of finance tops a string of visits that the former president has made to various spots in the city this year. Outside of his required presence in a downtown courthouse for his trial, Trump, who is always attuned to the art of a photo op, held campaign events around the city: at a firehouse, a bodega and a construction site. He also held a rally in the Bronx, among the places in the city 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 drew immediate blowback after speakers there made rude and racist insults and incendiary remarks.
Trump's fascination
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 The Washington Post reported in 2017 that Trump had a fake picture of himself on the cover of the magazine hanging in several of his golf country clubs.
Trump crafted his image as a wealthy real estate developer, which he played up as the star of the TV reality show “The Apprentice” and during his presidential campaign. He won the election in part by channeling Americans' anxieties about the economy's ability to provide for the middle class.
(With inputs from agency)
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