On March 28, 1985, President Ronald Reagan made history as the first and only sitting president to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Exactly 40 years later, Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute President and CEO David Trulio, alongside Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media Steve Forbes, honored the 40th president’s legacy and rang the iconic opening bell.

When Reagan addressed the NYSE, he was at the beginning of his second term. He spoke about the economic growth the U.S. experienced during his first term and touted the positive effects of tax cuts and deregulation.

“But in the last 5 years, we’ve moved from malaise to hope, confidence, and opportunity,” Reagan said. “We knew that malaise for what it really was: Government, with its high taxes, excessive spending and overregulation, had thrown a wrench in the works of our free markets. In essence, government was trying to run the economy but was ruining it instead.”

Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media, joins others at the New York Stock Exchange to commemorate the 40th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan ringing the opening bell on Friday, March 28, 2025, in New York, N.Y. (James Keivom for Fox News Digital / Fox News)

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When Reagan entered office, the U.S. economy was suffering, and the threat of escalation in the Cold War was looming. However, his policies helped stimulate economic growth and de-escalate tensions in the Cold War, which ended two years after Reagan left office.

In his conversation with Trulio prior to the bell ringing, Forbes touched on Reagan’s success in taking the U.S. “from a decline to a vigorous nation.” The media mogul said the “moral dimension” to Reagan’s policies made people realize that it was about more than monetary growth — it was about “the betterment of humankind.”

General view of the New York Stock Exchange commemorating the 40th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan ringing the opening bell on Friday, March 28, 2025, in New York, N.Y. (James Keivom for Fox News Digital / Fox News)

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Forbes and Trulio rang the opening bell at 9:30 a.m. flanked by images of Reagan as the crowd below erupted in cheers.

When speaking to Fox News Digital after the bell ringing, Trulio emphasized the importance of the U.S. continuing to work to be the top economy in the world.

“It’s not written in stone that America gets to be the number one economy in the world, just because we have to work at it and make sure — on a bipartisan basis — that we identify and debate those policies and embrace policies that drive growth, innovation and opportunity,” Trulio told Fox News Digital.

David Trulio, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute (RRPFI) at the New York Stock Exchange to commemorate the 40th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan, ringing the opening bell on Friday, (James Keivom for Fox News Digital / Fox News)

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Both Trulio and Forbes drew parallels between Reagan and President Donald Trump. When entering his second term, Trump was handed an economy in decline and international chaos, similar to the challenges Reagan faced.

“Well, we have two great historical leaders. They both share a strong interest in keeping taxes low, reducing regulations, and doing whatever is possible to bring down the burden of government. So, I think there’s good alignment there. And those principles that President Reagan applied seem to be being applied right now by President Trump,” Trulio told Fox News Digital.

Like Reagan, Trump has worked to cut government waste, most notably with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). While speaking with Trulio, Forbes admitted that DOGE may seem “messy” from the outside, but said it is “revolutionary.”

Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media, at the New York Stock Exchange to commemorate the 40th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan, ringing the opening bell on Friday, March 28, 2025, in New York, N.Y.  (James Keivom for Fox News Digital / Fox News)

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While Trulio refrained from speculating on what Reagan would have thought of DOGE, he said the department’s actions speak to its alignment with “broader principles that were exercised very successfully in the Reagan administration.”

Forbes, on the other hand, told Fox News Digital that he thinks Reagan “would have absolutely approved of DOGE” and that the 40th president likely would have wished Elon Musk were around so he could “unleash him, just as President Trump has done.”

“President Trump believes in free enterprise, and that’s why he made the tax changes and regulatory changes he did in the first term. And I’m glad that they’re doing deregulation with a vengeance in the second term. Badly needed to be done,” Forbes told Fox News Digital.