U.S. President Donald Trump is attending the U.S. Open on Sunday as a guest of Rolex despite imposing steep tariffs on the Swiss watchmaker’s home country and with organisers seeking to keep off-court disruptions — like audience members booing him — from being seen on the TV broadcast.
Trump has built the bulk of his second term’s domestic travel around attending major sports events rather than hitting the road to make policy announcements or address the kind of large rallies he so relished as a candidate.
He will watch the men’s final between second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, a 22-year-old Spaniard, and No. 1 seed and defending champion Jannik Sinner, 24, of Italy, from Rolex’s suite.
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The president’s acceptance of Rolex’s invitation comes mere weeks after the Trump administration imposed a 39 percent tariff on Swiss products.
The levy is more than 2.5 times higher than the one the Trump administration agreed to for European Union goods exported to the U.S. and nearly four times higher than on British exports to the U.S. It has raised questions about Switzerland’s ability to compete with the 27-member bloc that it neighbors.
Any negative reaction to Trump’s presence won’t be shown on ABC’s national telecast, per standard policy, the U.S. Tennis Association says.
“We regularly ask our broadcasters to refrain from showcasing off-court disruptions,” the organisation said in a statement.
Trump was once a U.S. Open mainstay, but hasn’t attended since he was loudly booed at a quarterfinals match in September 2015, months after launching his first presidential campaign.
Alcaraz said before the final that having Trump on-hand would be a privilege and “great for tennis,” but also suggested that such sentiment went for any president watching from the stands.
“I will try not to be focused, and I will try not to think about it,” Alcaraz said of Trump’s attendance. “I don’t want myself to be nervous because of it.”
Having a sitting president attend is unusual and, before Trump, hadn’t happened since Clinton went to the 2000 tournament. Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, attended the event’s opening night in 2023.
Published on Sep 07, 2025
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com