Melania Trump Tells NYSE Summit Women Are the Economy's 'Biggest Untapped Force'
First lady Melania Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange and delivered a keynote at IMPERIA, the exchange's first invite-only global summit for female CEOs and executives, arguing that women are not just participants in the market but its foundation and infrastructure.
First lady Melania Trump used a keynote address at the New York Stock Exchange to argue that women represent the largest unrealized source of economic growth in the world, telling an audience of female executives that they are not merely participants in the marketplace but its foundation.
Speaking at IMPERIA, described as the first invite-only global summit hosted at the NYSE and designed exclusively for female chief executives and senior executives, Trump said the scale of women's economic role is still widely underestimated. «People still do not fully understand the full scale of women's power in the global economy,» she said. «Women are not just a part of the marketplace, simple participants. We are its foundation and we are its infrastructure.»
Before the address, the first lady rang the exchange's opening bell, a ceremonial role that places her among the business and political figures invited to mark the start of the trading day in lower Manhattan.
At the center of her remarks was the claim that the most valuable untapped asset in the global economy is not a new market, a new technology or a natural resource. «The world's biggest untapped economic force is not a new market, a breakthrough technology or an undiscovered natural resource. It is women coming together as owners,» Trump said.
She then walked the audience through what she described as the consequences of removing women from the economy, listing their roles as consumers, investors, leaders, caregivers, innovators and managers of household finances. Without them, she said, the modern economy would not function as it does today.
Trump extended the argument to the labor force, noting that removing women from the workforce would mean losing doctors, engineers, bankers, lawyers and millions of other professionals. She also pointed to unpaid and often overlooked work — childcare, running households, home teaching and caring for elderly or sick family members — warning that the support structure allowing others to work for pay would begin to collapse without it.
Capital formation was another focus. Trump said removing women from investing and ownership would eliminate investors, shareholders, asset managers, property owners, retirement savers and those who protect wealth across generations.
Her closing message was a call to action aimed squarely at the women in the room, urging them to move from advising one another to financing one another. «Now is our time to move beyond mentorship and toward ownership. Do not simply advise another woman. Invest in her. Do not merely open a door. Create a real opportunity,» she said.
She encouraged the executives to convert their networks into tangible value — customers, contracts, knowledge and success — and to be deliberate about where they spend their money. She also urged them to invite other accomplished women into boardrooms, help first-time entrepreneurs land their first major customer and fund ideas that deserve to exist.
Trump acknowledged the achievements already represented in the room, noting that those present had built companies, created wealth and transformed industries. But she asked them to imagine that power connected rather than dispersed, and to begin working with one another before leaving the summit.
«Let's turn this gathering into meaningful action,» she said. «Women are on the global economy infrastructure. Now let's use that stronghold to own more of it together.»
The event marks a notable moment for the NYSE, which has increasingly positioned itself as a venue for high-profile conversations about markets and leadership. IMPERIA's format — invitation-only and focused on female executives — reflects a broader push in corporate America to build networks and capital channels specifically around women in senior business roles.
Trump's appearance also underscores the continuing debate over how much of women's economic contribution is measured in official statistics, particularly the unpaid care work she highlighted. Economists have long argued that this labor supports participation in the paid workforce, though it rarely appears in conventional growth figures.
For the executives attending, the first lady's message was less about policy than about ownership: using existing success, networks and purchasing power to fund the next generation of women-led businesses. Whether that translates into new investment commitments will become clearer as the summit's participants follow up on the connections made at the exchange.
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