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Pardon us if we get political for a moment …
The last time Donald Trump decided he needed to visit the US Open, for the quarterfinal match between Serena and Venus Williams in 2015, he was shown on a changeover during the third set and got some big-time boos.
And he wasn’t even president (for the first time) yet. He had announced he would run in the 2016 election, and was greeted by fellow New Yorker John McEnroe in his box.
(Yes, that’s P. Diddy in his box in the main photo).
You wouldn’t expect that to be much different this time. Perhaps worse; people are … far less civilized in public spaces than they were even a decade ago. And Trump’s fellow New Yorkers saw through his grifty self a looooooong time ago.
(Pretty sure I was the first to drop the news on Twitter, although I didn’t include the info about Rolex because I was worried at the time about burning my source).
Rumour has it that the convicted orange felon, Pumpkin McPorkHumper, is going to be showing up here at the US Open on Sunday.
— Stephanie Myles (@OpenCourt) September 4, 2025
Oh, yippee.
(Have not confirmed this).
This is not, to say the least, a UFC crowd.
The clip ESPN posted almost exactly a decade ago of Trump being booed is … no longer functioning.
But someone found it; the ESPN broadcasters were a little giddy about it.
Last time Donald Trump attended the US Open in 2015 pic.twitter.com/FNVxafoY64
— asud (@asud683385) September 6, 2025
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IGNORE THE ELEPHANT IN THE STADIUM!!!
This time, though, the directives from the USTA are that the broadcasters are NOT to show ANY reaction (presumably negative), about Trump’s presence.
They were told not even to mention which company had extended the invitation to him; rather they were told to simply call it a “sponsor’s suite”, rather than mention it was their massive sponsor, Rolex, who had extended the invitation.
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They all went along with it; you know they would. Hard to say whether that will apply to the broadcasters from around the world who were in New York to air the men’s singles final.
During the pre-match show, from host Chris McKendry.
“President Trump is expected to be among the spectators today for this gentlemen’s championship. But back to the rivalry: Chrissie, what makes the best rivals?”
A little report from Jeremy Schapp outlined the traffic snarls around the site and explained the delayed start. Back to McKendry, who blithely blurts: “Traffic. It’s a New York thing”.
The #USOpen has moved the trophy to inside the Rolex suite, which is where Trump is, but surely not where the trophy has ever belonged before during a final. pic.twitter.com/d56lpvLMo2
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) September 7, 2025
The honour guard ceremonies were visibly shortened, in order to show Trump on the big screen during the unfurling of the flag and singing of the anthem, hoping – only somewhat successfully, in the end – that any reaction would be more muted by people actually having respect for the flag and anthem.
(He still doesn’t know, as Ms. Bondi to his right does, that you don’t … actually salute the anthem. You put your hand on your heart. He always does this).
3:17 p.m. – people still in line to get in.
The fans booed him again later.
The U.S. Open just showed Donald Trump on the screen for a second time and he got booed for 30 seconds straight.
— First To Hear It (@firsttohearit) September 7, 2025
Fans are pissed off. This is the clip that he didn't want you to see. pic.twitter.com/AxJDCgNcLC
But after a break – likely to have a nosh – he was back for the end. And signed and hurled some MAGA hats that probably no one asked for.
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In the end, start time was … 2:49 p.m. for a 2 p.m. start, with large swaths of empty seats and thousands of very annoyed people outside. But beyond the significant inconvenience for all, and the capitulation of the broadcasters, it wasn’t that much of a huge deal.
Getting out must have been a treat, though.
Invitation from Rolex
Trump was sitting in the Rolex suite, on their invitation. That they would do this and add additional delay and distraction for Sinner and Alcaraz – both of whom are Rolex “testimonees” – tells you they have some financial motivation to do so – perhaps work on him to ease the tariffs on their products?
As well, given how late this came, you’d expect they already had their large private loge full with previous invitations. Given the entourage that always accompanies Trump, did they … have to kick some well-heeled patrons out?
Security a massive inconvenience
All of this seems to have been put together fairly last-minute, which made it a nightmare on the security side. The Secret Service have been on site for several days.
The air space around a President’s arrival gets restricted for a long period before and after his arrival (assuming he’s coming by air).
And the inconveniences to the people working on the site, most of whom have been there for three weeks and are pretty tired at this point, are significant.
(He could theoretically have come any year in the last decade. That he chose this year – with no Americans playing in the final – is of course … timely).
It took until Friday evening for the written press to get any directives, but the broadcasters received information before that.
-If they were coming on a shuttle bus, they were required to be on a bus no later than … 8 am. And there would be no buses after 9:30 a.m.
–For those who were headed to the airport to leave right after the final, they were not allowed to bring any luggage of bags onto the grounds or into the broadcast building on Sunday morning. So they would have to have a runner meet them outside the site, and have the luggage stored in a parking lot.
–The only thing they were allowed to bring in today was their phone.
For the written press, there were additional directives.
– The relatively minor bag search to get onto the grounds would be enhanced, more at the TSA level.
– Any needed equipment needed on Sunday had to be on the grounds by Saturday night at 10 p.m., and left overnight in a locker.
– All media members were required to exit Arthur Ashe Stadium by 11 p.m. on Saturday.
–Media were to “expect some delays moving around in public areas that may briefly become restricted access or frozen zones at certain times of the match”.
There’s no indication that the fans were given much in the way of a head’s up. Because the line to get into the stadium was endless. And probably the line to get off the parkway and into the site was as well (it’s bad at the best of times).
A long history with tennis
In the orange felon’s defence, he does have a long history with tennis. (More details on that here).
He even pretended to play.
Chances are that his playing partners were as deferential to him on the tennis court as they currently are on the golf course – i.e., generous with their line calls.
(I mean, Gauff and Swiatek would probably endorse that forehand grip).
You’d expect that he has some “club championship tennis trophies” stored at Mar-A-Lago somewhere.
For decades, his company had the luxury suite directly to the right of the main broadcasting platform inside the stadium, used mostly by CBS back in those days.
Once Trump was elected for the first time, they gave up the box.
No doubt it was completely unrelated to the reception he received the last time he was there, in 2015.
You wonder if the current owners of the box (seen below) were concerned that he would invoke “presidential privilege” to return to his old box, for auld lang syne.
