President Donald Trump attended the men’s final at the US Open on Sunday as a guest of Rolex.
Less than an hour before the men’s final was slated to begin, Trump emerged beside Rolex CEO Jean-Frederic Dufour from the company’s box suite to clap and wave at the partially full main court audience of Arthur Ashe Stadium. The brief appearance elicited mixed jeers and applause.
Rolex and other Swiss watchmakers are reeling from a 39 percent tariff the White House implemented on goods from the country just over a month ago. The levy, one of the highest globally, was unexpectedly severe, and comes at a time when high-end watch sales were already slumping.
Trump’s appearance Sunday was his first at the tournament in a decade. His 2015 visit during his first presidential candidacy was met with booing during a quarterfinal match between Venus and Serena Williams. Before his entry into politics, Trump had been a frequent attendee of the US Open.
Additional security screening delayed the match between second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, 22, and first-seeded defending champion Jannik Sinner, 24, by half an hour past its original start time.
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This week, President Trump’s tariff on Switzerland went into effect, landing levies of 39 percent on every watch the country exports to the US. For some Swiss watchmakers, the threat is existential.