Donald Trump asked Rolex executives if he would have been invited to watch this month’s US Open final from the luxury watchmaker’s VIP box had he imposed steep tariffs on Swiss exports weeks earlier.
The US president’s remarks were made “in jest”, stressed Jean-Frederic Dufour, the Rolex CEO, in a letter to Elizabeth Warren, the US senator who had raised questions about the decision to invite Trump – including whether the conglomerate was seeking to “curry favor” with the administration.
Related: Rolex faces questions over Trump US Open invitation amid tariffs pain
Warren, a Democrat for Massachusetts, said: “Corruption is not a laughing matter.”
Trump’s 39% tariff on Swiss exports to the US – significantly higher than his 15% rate on the European Union, or 10% on the UK – threatens to pile pressure on Rolex, one of the world’s leading watch manufacturers.
Dufour claimed that the invite to Trump, and other senior figures in his administration, was part of a broader focus on “the values of sport, sportsmanship and international friendship”, rather than any “capitulation” to the US president. “Rolex is not, nor has it ever been, engaged in any negotiation with the US government regarding tariffs,” he wrote.
But Dufour described how Trump brought up the tariffs he had imposed on Switzerland, and Swiss exporters like Rolex, weeks earlier.
“President Trump, never one to miss a rhetorical opportunity, did ask in jest whether he would have been invited had it not been for the tariffs – a moment that brought a round of laughter all around and, as you can imagine, a swift return of attention to the unfolding excitement on court,” Dufour wrote.
“No substantive discussion” took place “regarding tariffs, trade policy, or any other official matter” during the US Open final, or since, he claimed.
Kush Desai, a White House spokesperson, using Trump’s favored jibe about Warren, said: “Pocahontas should find a better use of her time than conjuring up asinine conspiracy theories.”
“While families are getting crushed by Trump’s chaotic tariffs, Donald Trump and his rich friends are laughing about tariffs in a fancy box sponsored by a luxury watch brand,” said Warren. “How much more out of touch can Trump be?”
Trump was gifted “a golf sweater and a sports gilet” as “a token of appreciation for attending the event”, said Dufour.