Donald Trump is first President since Bill Clinton to attend US Open 2025. TV won't air any boos on Sunday, check past controversies

US Open final 2025 on Sunday is set to have President Donald Trump as a guest of Rolex at Arthur Ashe Stadium. President Trump will be watching the men's final between second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, a 22-year-old Spaniard, and No 1 seed and defending champion Jannik Sinner, 24, of Italy, from Rolex's suite. Trump has built the bulk of his second term's domestic travel around attending major sports events rather than hitting the road to make policy announcements or address the kind of large rallies he so relished as a candidate. Having a sitting president attend is unusual and, before Trump, hadn't happened since Bill Clinton went to the 2000 tournament. Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, attended the event's opening night in 2023.

Organisers are seeking to keep off-court disruptions — like audience members booing him — from being seen on the TV broadcast. Any negative reaction to Trump's presence won't be shown on ABC's national telecast, per standard policy, the US Tennis Association says. “We regularly ask our broadcasters to refrain from showcasing off-court disruptions,” the organisation said in a statement.

Donald Trump at US Open

Trump was once a US Open mainstay, but hasn't attended since he was loudly booed at a quarterfinals match in September 2015, months after launching his first presidential campaign.

The Trump Organisation once controlled its own US Open suite, which was adjacent to the television broadcasting booth in Arthur Ashe Stadium, but suspended it in 2017, during the first year of Trump's first term. The family business is now being run by Trump's sons with their father back in the White House.

Trump was born in Queens, home of the US Open, and for decades was a New York-area real estate mogul and, later, a reality TV star. Attending the tournament before he was a politician, he usually sat in the suite's balcony during night matches and was frequently shown on the arena's video screens.

In recent years, however, including between his presidential terms, Trump primarily lived at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.

Alcaraz said before the final that having Trump on-hand would be a privilege and “great for tennis,” but also suggested that such sentiment went for any president watching from the stands.

“I will try not to be focused, and I will try not to think about it,” Alcaraz said of Trump's attendance. “I don't want myself to be nervous because of it.”

Trump golfed at the Virginia club outside Washington on Saturday, as he has many recent weekends once the summer weather turned too hot for playing near Mar-a-Lago. But the president has also frequently attended sporting events — where the roar of the crowd sometimes features people booing the president while others cheer him.

Since returning to the White House in January and prior to Sunday's US Open swing, Trump went to the Super Bowl in New Orleans and the Daytona 500, 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.

FAQs

Q1. Who are playing in US Open final?
A1. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will be playing in US Open final.


Q2. What are past controversies surrounding Donald Trump at US Open?
A2. President Donald Trump was once a US Open mainstay, but hasn't attended since he was loudly booed at a quarterfinals match in September 2015, months after launching his first presidential campaign. The Trump Organisation once controlled its own US Open suite, which was adjacent to the television broadcasting booth in Arthur Ashe Stadium, but suspended it in 2017, during the first year of Trump's first term. The family business is now being run by Trump's sons with their father back in the White House.