NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump will watch the U.S. Open men’s final from Rolex’s suite in Arthur Ashe Stadium, a person with knowledge of the details said Saturday.
Trump’s first appearance at the Grand Slam tournament in New York since 2015 — before his first run for the White House — will be Sunday as a guest of the Swiss watchmaker, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because those plans were not publicly revealed.
Accepting use of Rolex’s suite is noteworthy because it comes weeks after the Trump administration imposed a 39% tariff on Swiss products. That’s more than 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 neighbors.
Sunday's match between No. 1 Jannik Sinner and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz is the latest high-profile sporting event for Trump after the Super Bowl in New Orleans, the Daytona 500 in Florida, as well as 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 U.S. Tennis Association said its policy is to "regularly ask our broadcasters to refrain from showcasing off-court disruptions,” so it's possible ABC's telecast of the match Sunday might not include coverage of any protests that might arise.
Trump frequently attended the U.S. Open more than a decade ago, before he launched his political career, when he lived in New York. He now primarily lives at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, when he’s not in Washington.
The Trump Organization once controlled a suite at the U.S. Open, adjacent to the television broadcasting booth in Ashe, but stopped using it in 2017, the first year of Trump’s first term.
The invitation to use the Rolex suite was first reported by the website Bounces.
Having a sitting president at the U.S. Open is unusual. It hasn’t happened since Bill Clinton attended in 2000. Former President Barack Obama and wife, Michelle, attended the opening night in 2023.
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Associated Press Writer Will Weissert contributed to this report.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis