WATCH: Trump Officially Launches Trump Accounts for Kids, Rings Wall Street’s Opening Bell

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday rang the opening bells of the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq from the golden confines of the Oval Office, a symbolic act that reflects how he has increasingly linked his presidency to the stock market.

Watch in our video player above.

With rising inflation hurting Trump’s popularity, the Republican president has tried to convince more Americans to focus on their 401(k) investments, claiming that his policies should take credit for any gains, especially with the midterm elections approaching in November.

Read more: What experts want you to know about Trump’s accounts and massive new donation

“It’s going to go up — I think the market is going to go up,” Trump said after the official launch.

Only 33% of US adults approve of Trump’s economic leadership, according to a June poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

However, the ringing of the opening bell suggests why the president’s focus on the stock market may not help his party much woo voters this fall.

He watches: How do “Trump Accounts” for children work and who will benefit most?

The Oval Office event was promoting the launch of Trump Accounts, which were created as a way for children to invest in stock indexes as part of the Republicans’ big 2025 tax cuts and spending bill.

In defense of these accounts, Treasury Secretary Scott Besent emphasized that many Americans do not have direct exposure to stocks.

This means that millions of people do not benefit from investments that accrue largely to wealthier families or that the benefits they receive are for retirement decades away.

He watches: Trump praised ‘really great decision’ over Balogun’s red card after he called FIFA’s Infantino

“38% of American households have no exposure to our great stock markets,” Besant announced before the bell.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index recorded gains of 17.9% in 2025, but that came after annual returns of 25% in 2024 and 26.3% in 2023, during the presidency of Democrat Joe Biden. The benchmark stock index is up about 10% so far this year.

But just as inflation crushed public support for Biden, Trump also saw his approval fall prey to a cycle of rising prices. Trump won the 2024 election after promising to cut costs, but his tariffs and the start of the war in Iran created new inflationary pressures.

The CPI has risen 4.2% over the past 12 months, up from 3% when Trump began his second term in January 2025.

He watches: Trump said he believes the end of the war in Ukraine is “near” despite Russian strikes on Kiev

However, Trump is betting that stock investments cultivated by the government, some prominent companies and billionaires will give future generations a deeper stake in the American economy. The accounts have already gotten billionaires a boost of more than $1,000 from the government.

Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell and his wife, Susan, appeared before Trump on Monday pledging $6.25 billion to the accounts, while there were separate pledges by billionaires including investor Ray Dalio and SpaceX chief Gwen Shotwell, who said on Monday she would donate shares in the Elon Musk-led company to the accounts.

Trump jokingly admitted that the children had missed out on the stock market gains that had occurred so far due to the delay in launching Trump’s accounts.

“We should have acted faster,” Trump said.