President Donald Trump will watch the U.S. Open men’s final from Rolex’s suite in the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Trump’s first appearance at the Grand Slam tournament in New York since 2015 today will be as a guest of the Swiss watchmaker.
If there is any negative reaction to Trump’s presence, it won’t be shown on ABC’s telecast of the match between No. 1 Jannik Sinner and No.
2 Carlos Alcaraz.
That’s a standard U.S. Tennis Association policy.
“We regularly ask our broadcasters to refrain from showcasing off-court disruptions,” the organisation said in a statement.
Trump frequently attended the U.S. Open when he lived in New York and before he launched his political career.
He now primarily lives at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, when he’s not in Washington.
Accepting use of Rolex’s suite is noteworthy since it comes weeks after the Trump administration imposed a whopping 39% tariff on Swiss products.
That’s over 2 1/2 times higher than the one on European Union goods exported to the U.S. and nearly four times higher than on British exports to the U.S. – which has raised questions about Switzerland’s ability to compete with the 27-member bloc that it neighbours. This marks the latest high-profile sporting event for Trump, following his appearances at the Super Bowl in New Orleans, the Daytona 500 in Florida, UFC fights in Miami and Newark, New Jersey, the NCAA wrestling championships in Philadelphia, and the FIFA Club World Cup final in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The Trump Organisation once held sway over a suite at the U.S. Open, situated next to the television broadcasting booth in Arthur Ashe Stadium, but this was suspended in 2017, during the first year of Trump’s term.
Despite Trump’s previous ties with the tournament, the presence of a sitting president at the U.S. Open is a rarity. The last time this occurred was when Bill Clinton attended in 2000.
Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, graced the opening night in 2023.