President Trump attended the U.S. Open men's tennis finals on Sunday in Rolex's luxury box, stepping out of the suite briefly for an on-camera appearance during the national anthem. He drew mixed cheers and boos from the half-empty stadium.
Due to enhanced security for the president's attendance, many ticketholders stood in long lines outside the venue waiting to get in as the match began.
Photos showed Rolex CEO Jean-Frederic Dufour standing next to Trump as he waved to the crowd. Rolex was among the companies sponsoring the tournament.
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain emerged victorious over rival Italy's Jannik Sinner in four sets, winning his second U.S. Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, Queens in New York City.
Sunday's match was the third straight Grand Slam final between the two players and their 15th time facing one another since 2021. The pair dubbed "The New Two" or "Sincaraz" have gone back and forth in rankings. Alcaraz walked into the game ranked number 2, below Sinner, and left with a $5 million check and the number 1 spot.
After the win, Alcaraz thanked his opponent and joked: "I am seeing you more than my family!"
A noisy national anthem
The televised event began a bit later than expected and viewers at home could only hear muffled noise when the camera showed President Trump during the national anthem. The U.S. Tennis Association had issued guidance to broadcasters to edit out any crowd reaction to the president, according to multiple reports. NPR was not able to independently confirm the guidance. At Trump's last U.S. Open appearance, in 2015, he was booed loudly by the stadium.
"We regularly ask our broadcasters to refrain from showcasing off-court disruptions," USTA spokesman Brendan McIntyre told The Athletic. However, videos of a booing crowd with a few claps quickly made it to social media. The USTA did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment.
The president's outing with Rolex, a Swiss company, comes mere weeks after imposing a 39% tariff on Swiss products. The tariff is more than twice the rate agreed upon for the European Union and about four times greater than the U.K. Rolex did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment.
It has been over two decades since a sitting president attended the U.S. Open — the last time was Bill Clinton in 2000. However, Trump has made a point to attend high profile sporting events in his second term. He attended the Super Bowl earlier this year and recently committed to hosting a UFC fight at the White House next year.
Prior to his presidency, Trump had a suite at the U.S. Open, but gave it up in 2017 during his first term.
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