Donald Trump received a mixed reception from the Flushing Meadows crowd after arriving to watch the US Open tennis final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
The president touched down in New York City on Sunday afternoon and made his way to Queens ahead of Sinner’s highly-anticipated showdown with great rival Alcaraz at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where the sport’s titanic duo will contest an unprecedented third Grand Slam final against one another this calendar year.
On the eve of the match – which was delayed from 2pm to 2:30pm due to increased security measures – the United States Tennis Association sent out an email to broadcasters, including ESPN and Sky Sports, stating that they must censor any protests or reactions to his attendance.
Roughly 40 minutes before the start of Sunday’s final, Trump emerged from his private suite at Arthur Ashe, where he is a guest of Swiss luxury watch brand and major sponsor Rolex, to a mixture of cheers and boos from the New York crowd.
The 79-year-old is in attendance with a large entourage; which includes attorney general Pam Bondi, press secretary Karoline Leavitt, White House deputy chief Dan Scavino, granddaughter Arabella Kushner and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Meanwhile, chaos occurred outside the arena as thousands of fans lined up to enter just minutes before the rearranged start time, meaning Sinner and Alcaraz will begin Sunday’s final in front of many empty seats unless another delay is announced.
Daily Mail reporter Matthew Lambwell, who is on the ground in Queens, said about the frantic scenes in the stadium grounds: ‘This is total chaos here. Lines are absolutely insane. They will either have to delay again or start with hardly anyone in’.
A US Open insider also told the Daily Mail ahead of his appearance that nerve agents and chemical weapons were among potential threats at Flushing Meadows.
‘We’ve been scoping out the area with our colleagues in the CIA and taking precautions in the event of an attack using chemical weapons or nerve agents,’ the source said.
However, those security preparations are said to be precautionary and are not understood to relate to any specific threat made against the commander-in-chief.
Since being re-elected Trump has made sport a huge part of his second term as president, with Sunday’s US Open final between Sinner and Alcaraz the second major event he is slated to attend in the Big Apple over the coming days.
After the tennis showpiece, he is also expected to be at Yankee Stadium on September 11 – the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack on the city. That night, the playoff-chasing New York Yankees host the Detroit Tigers.
Trump was met with a chorus of boos when he last attended the US Open with wife Melania in a majority-Democrat New York back in 2015.
The then-GOP presidential frontrunner was heavily jeered when he arrived to watch top-ranked Serena Williams defeat her older sister, Venus, in the women’s singles quarterfinals.
After beating Novak Djokovic in the semifinals Alcaraz was quizzed on the prospect of Trump watching his battle with Sinner, with the Spaniard admitting he is trying to put it to the back of his mind.
‘It is a privilege for the tournaments having the president from every country just to support the tournament, to support tennis, and to support the match,’ he initially told reporters about the US president’s plans to attend the final.
‘For me, playing in front of him… to be honest, I will try not to think about it. I don’t want myself to be nervous because of it.
‘But I think attending the tennis match, it’s great for tennis to have the president into the final.’
Once the US Open and Yankees appearances are complete, Trump will turn his sporting focus to the Ryder Cup after it confirmed that he will be at the first day of the golf tournament on September 26 at Bethpage in New York.
He was also spotted at the FIFA Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium, just outside of the Big Apple, in July, leaving victorious Chelsea players baffled when he remained on stage during their trophy lift.
The president also attended the Super Bowl earlier this year as the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans, Louisiana.
