The markets are climbing to new highs, and another milestone for the Dow Jones industrial average may not be far away, according to the Wharton School's Jeremy Siegel.
If President Donald Trump follows the "Republican agenda," Siegel said, then Dow 22,000 is on the horizon. That's a nearly 8 percent rise from current levels.
If Trump does "lower taxes, lower regulations, that's another 10 percent on this market, I say, quite easily," Siegel said Monday on CNBC's "Trading Nation."
Taking down the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which increased regulation within the financial services industry in the wake of the financial crisis, has been a tenet of Trump's platform. Investors flocked to the financial sector after the election because of the rising interest rate environment and in anticipated loosening of regulation.
Trump has also vowed to cut corporate taxes, which would prove favorable for American equities.
However, if Trump moves more aggressively on protectionism, spurring a trade war or a currency war, and then "it's a very different picture," Siegel said. Although the likelihood of such events is slim, he said, that remains the biggest risk to the markets' rally.
Siegel has made similar calls in the past. In July 2015, he told CNBC that the Dow could hit 20,000 by the end of that year. When it didn't by November, he reiterated his belief in Dow 20,000, but pushed his timeline back to 2016. The Dow broke the mark on Jan. 25, 2017.
