Showing posts with label President Donald Trump. Show all posts
Showing posts with label President Donald Trump. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Supreme Court Overturns Trump Tariffs

 


Supreme Court

Overturns Trump Tariffs 

Much Ado About Nothing

President Trump’s announcement of international tariffs sent shockwaves across the globe. In a sudden move, he imposed 35% tariffs on Switzerland, causing significant disruption to the Swiss watch industry. This unexpected action prompted Rolex’s CEO, Jean-Frédéric Dufour, to attend a meeting in President Trump’s Oval Office, accompanied by other prominent Swiss business leaders.



It’s intriguing to note that according to the Federal Reserve, Goldman Sachs, UBS, and Deutsche Bank, approximately 85-90% of the tariff costs are borne by American consumers. I recall when President Trump, during his initial administration, imposed tariffs on China, he expressed his determination to exert pressure on the Chinese economy. He suggested that the Chinese companies would be adversely affected by having to pay the tariff. However, the reality was that the Chinese economy remained largely unaffected, as the burden was passed on to consumers and manufacturers who had to bear the cost. In essence, tariffs act as an invisible tax on American consumers, significantly increasing the prices of goods.


Tariffs are a form of Taxation


As we recently learned, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned President Trump’s tariff scheme, resulting in companies being refunded $133 billion. This begs the question: what is the impact of this on the price of Rolex watches? While it’s uncertain, it seems unlikely that new Rolex prices will be significantly affected. President Trump initially reduced Swiss tariffs to 15%, but these have been overturned. If his new tariff scheme is successful, Switzerland will end up imposing a 10% tariff on all imports, which is favorable news for Rolex brand purchasers.


Sunday, December 07, 2025

Rolex Desk Clock In The Oval Office



Rolex Desk Clock

In The Oval Office 

Featured on 60 Minutes

"Time Flies, and waits for no one,

 and once lost, is never found. 

Yet still we try to keep time and measure it."

I originally published this story back on December 4th, and am bringing it back up as the top story, as CBS's 60 Minutes TV Magazine show not only ran this fascinating story on the Swiss Watch industry, but also featured a close-up of the Rolex desk clock Rolex gifted to the American people though President Trump."



Then, on November 10th I published a follow-up story about how Rolex had apparently given President Trump a Rolex Desk Clock that was on display in the Oval Office. This led to a mystery as there was not a high enough resolution photo that showed the actual engraving, until now.





Nick Gould brought this image to my attention which gives us a clear image of what Rolex engraved on the back of the Rolex table clock that they gifted to the American people on behalf of President Trump. This image was originally published on Woz.ch, and shows in great detail what the engraving said exactly as pictured below


Nick Gould originally claimed he could read the engraving on the back of the clock, and it turns out "Eagle Eyes" was correct, which is fascinating as I could NOT make it out originally, even when I blew up the text super large, but Nick got it right, and here is what it said:

ROLEX
PRESIDENT OF THE UNTED STATES
DONALD J. TRUMP
45-47
WITH APPRECIATION FROM ROLEX


Sunday, November 16, 2025

Switzerland Wins U.S. Tariff Rate Drop to 15%



Switzerland Wins U.S. Tariff Drop to 15% 

Pledges $200 Billion in U.S. Investment 

Trump Seeks Balanced Trade 

Switzerland and the United States announced a new framework trade agreement on Friday that includes Washington slashing its tariffs on imported Swiss products from 39% down to 15%. Also, Swiss companies pledged to invest $200 Billion by the end of 2028 in the United States. The Trump White House published a fact sheet that cites promoting reciprocal trade, and it is filled with fascinating details. Looks like President Trump is a real Rolex fan after all, which makes sense as he is a true Rolex President.
 

Wednesday, November 12, 2025

"Rolex Has Been Very Nice" —President Trump

 


"Rolex Has Been Very Nice"

—President Trump 

Nice Comments on Rolex 

Over the past week I have been covering a lot of President Trump Rolex news, beginning with the CEO of Rolex, Jean-Frédéric Dufour visiting the Oval Office, and then I wrote a very detailed story on how Rolex gifted the American people a Rolex desk top that in on President Trump's desk in the Oval Office. President Trump commented recently on how Rolex had been nice to him, and on how he is working on a something with Switzerland, as he shared a smile and laugh as we seen in the video below:


Below we see a photo that shows the Rolex clock on President Trump's desk, and it appears to have an engraving that says "President of The United States, Donald J. Trump."

Monday, November 10, 2025

Rolex Desk Clock In Oval Office




Rolex Desk Clock

In The Oval Office 

Front and Center On Resolute Desk 

It looks like we have yet another Rolex President history chapter unfolding in front of us. Last week, we saw Rolex CEO, Jean-Frédéric Dufour in the Oval Office with President Trump, and Nick Gould as as well as some eagle-eyed readers of Jake's Rolex World pointed me to how Watches of Espionage reported that President Trump has a new Rolex desk clock on his desk in the Oval Office.


The image below was taken in the Oval Office over the weekend and shows Senator Mullin from Oklahoma handing President Trump a document and we see the Rolex desk clock and can see it has a Rolex green dial. Special thanks to Nick Gould for finding this image.




Below we see non image of President Trump's desk in the Oval Office as he is meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, and we see the Rolex front and center on the Resolute Desk.


The image below of a Rolex Desk Clock appears courtesy of Christie's Auction House and shows a Rolex Reference 8235 Desk clock, which I believe is very similar to the one on President Trump's desktop, but Trump's obviously has a Rolex green dial.


Rolex has been making Rolex Desk top for many decades, and pictured below we see an example of a 1985 Rolex Reference 455 Rolex Desk clock in an image that appears courtesy of Sotheby's Auction House.


Nick Gould noticed the back of Rolex desk clock on President Trump's desk has an engraving on the back as seen in the two images below:



The image below was discovered on Instagram by @Beheightfour and shows what appears to be a Rolex executive awarding somebody a Rolex desk clock very similar to the model gifted to the American people by Rolex:



"Hodinkee is able to confirm that the clock was given to the U.S. and the President by Rolex as part of a White House visit by a group of Swiss business executives. According to a letter signed by Rolex Chief Executive Officer Jean-Frédéric Dufour, the table clock was presented for the benefit of the people of the United States as one of several “symbolic gestures of appreciation reflecting the spirit of friendship and enduring ties between the two nations,” according to the letter. The table clock was described as a gift to the people of the United States and as “a modest, refined expression of traditional Swiss watchmaking.“


It's kind of fitting when you think about it that the Rolex desk clock is a Datejust, as the original and first Rolex 'President' watch model was a Datejust. It's also fascinating when you explore to understand that the Rolex DAY-DATE really is a Datejust variant, with the day of the week wheel added to it. You can learn much more about The Complete History of The Rolex President, which is filled with amazing historical moments. Below we see a photo of President Eisenhower I published years ago, wearing his yellow gold Rolex Datejust.

Thursday, November 06, 2025

ROLEX CEO Attends White House Meeting



ROLEX CEO

Attends White House Meeting with Swiss Business Leaders

Underscore Longstanding Economic Ties 

between Switzerland and the U.S. 

Hodinkee published an excellent article today titled "Business News: Rolex and Richemont Executives Among Swiss Business Leaders Meeting With Trump", and included this image that shows Rolex CEO, Jean-Frédéric Dufour in attendance. 


For the record, this is the first image I ever recall showing a Rolex CEO in the Oval Office with the President of the United States. This of course, is interesting when you take into consideration The Complete History of the Rolex President. I know former Rolex CEO, André-Jean Heiniger attended a function at the White House in 1977 with President Carter, but I have never seen any photos of him, or any other Rolex CEO in the Oval Office.


The Hodinkee article emphasized the nature of this Oval Office meeting and said:

Swiss business leaders, including the Chief Executive of Rolex, the Chairman of Richemont, and the co-founder of the private equity firm that controls Breitling, met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington this week to pledge support for ongoing trade talks between the two countries. The Swiss executive group, including Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour, said they met with the President at their own initiative to underscore the longstanding economic ties between Switzerland and the U.S. 

"While we gave our support to the ongoing negotiations between our two governments, we did not participate in any negotiations with the U.S. President. We expressed our belief that a bilateral trade agreement would further enhance economic collaboration in a manner beneficial to Switzerland and the United States," the private Swiss business group said in a joint statement.

President Trump posted the following on Truth Social on November 4, 2025 to commemorate and comment on his meeting with Swiss Executives:


To date, I haven’t discussed President Trump’s Swiss Tariffs, which make little sense to me. They appear to be an unfair and regressive tax on American consumers who fuel the $12 billion U.S. watch market. The 39% tariff would not be fair or equitable for either the Swiss watch industry or the American consumer. 

In an ironic twist of fate, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday, for 2.5 hours challenging President Trump's use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping tariffs.

Trump invoked IEEPA to declare national emergencies over fentanyl trafficking and trade deficits, issuing executive orders for "trafficking" tariffs (25% on Canada/Mexico, higher on China) and "reciprocal" or "Liberation Day" tariffs (10-50% on nearly all imports worldwide).

Challengers—educational toy makers Learning Resources and hand2mind, wine importer V.O.S. Selections, and 12 states led by Oregon—argued IEEPA's power to "regulate...importation" excludes tariffs (taxes reserved to Congress), no prior president used IEEPA this way, and it violates major questions doctrine and non-delegation principles.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer defended tariffs as traditional import regulation, citing Nixon-era precedent under IEEPA precursor.

Justices across ideological lines expressed skepticism: Chief Justice Roberts noted IEEPA's unprecedented tariff use; Justice Barrett questioned unlimited scope and refund logistics ("a mess"); conservatives like Gorsuch and Kavanaugh probed limits, invoking major questions.

Lower courts ruled against Trump; expedited SCOTUS review followed. The Supreme Courts decision is pending and they are expected to rule by January of 2026, which if they overrun President Trump would, potentially curb executive economic power.

It will be interesting to see how things play out, and if the Supreme Court overturns Trump, the 39% tariff will be dissolved, which I think is pretty likely. This would include overturning Trump's 47% Tariff on China.

Sunday, September 07, 2025

U.S. Open President Trump with Rolex CEO...



U.S. Open

President Trump

with Rolex CEO

Trump and Dufour Hang Out 

I always seem to equate the U.S. Open finals with representing the end of summer, and this year will likely be certainly memorable. Rolex CEO, Jean-Frederic Dufour and President Donald Trump spent some time together today at the U.S. Open Tennis Finals as Trump was a guest in the Rolex suite during the Men's Finals today.


This is the latest high-profile athletic event Trump has attended after the Super Bowl in New Orleans, as well as the Daytona 500 in Florida, not to mention the UFC Fights in New Jersey, Newark and Miami.



What did the Rolex President say to the Rolex CEO?

I wonder if Dufuor and Trump discussed the ridiculously absurd American tariffs Trump imposed upon Switzerland at 39% for imported goods? Just one of the reasons such a tariff make no sense is it's greater than 2.5 times greater than the one imposed upon European Union goods exported to the U.S., and it's more than 4 times higher than than British exports to the United States. Hopefully they can sort this out, as Trump is a longtime wearer of Rolex as seen in the photos below.



Also in attendance today at Flushing Meadows, was "The Boss" Bruce Springsteen and he was rocking what appears to be a vintage Rolex Oyster Perpetual.


Below we see legendary NBA Basketball player, Stephen Curry praising Alvarez after making an amazing shot as they were making eye contact with each other.


Also, we see Jamaican musician Shaggy below, rocking his super cool Rainbow Rolex Daytona.


Today's match was between Number 1 Jannik Sinner and Number two ranked, Carlos Alcaraz, who are both Rolex Testimonies. Carlos Alcaraz (pronounced like Alcatraz, without a 't') won the match, and Rolex released the video below to showcase his win.


IF you didn't get a chance to watch the match live, you are in for a big treat as the recap below is excellent, and gives you the highlights of the AMAZING championship showdown. 


Wednesday, April 30, 2025

3 Generations of Trump Rocking Rolex




3 Generations of Trump Rocking Rolex

Kai & Donnie Trump

 If you’ve been following my stories, you know I’ve covered former President Donald Trump and his love for the iconic Rolex Day-Date “President” and his son, Donald Trump Jr., who’s rarely seen without his trusty GMT-Master. But hold onto your bezels—there’s a new chapter in the Trump family’s Rolex saga, and it involves the next generation: Kai Trump and Donald John Trump III (Donnie). Donald John Trump III, isn't too young to be rocking a Rolex. After all, I bought my first Submariner when I was also 16 years old.


Trump’s Golden “President”

Let’s start with the man himself, Donald Trump. President Trump's wrist game is as bold as his persona, and in the photo above we see him rocking his yellow Rolex Day-Date. Known as the “President” for its history with world leaders, this gold beauty with its day and date complications is a beauty.


Don Jr.’s GMT-Master

Then there’s Donald Trump Jr., the outdoor enthusiast and dealmaker who rocks a Rolex GMT-Master. This watch is all about versatility—its dual-time zone feature and rugged charm make it perfect for Don Jr.’s lifestyle, whether he’s jetting across time zones or hunting in the wild. 


Kai and Donnie
Rolex Runs in the Family


The photo below shows President Trump with many of his family member, including his three sons, Baron (left of President Trump), Donald Trump Jr. on left with beard, and Eric Trump on right with beard, standing behind Elon Musk. Donald Trump III, is pictured behind Ivanka, with all four of his siblings and his mother ed pictured to the left of him.


Now, here’s where things get interesting. I recently stumbled across a video that stopped me in my tracks: Trump’s grandkids, Kai (pictured above with her grandfather, President Trump), and Donnie, are already rocking Rolex! Kai, the golf prodigy, and her younger brother, Donnie (Donald John Trump III), are sporting Rolexes as seen in the video below, proving that the family’s love for the brand runs deep. Just to be clear, Kai and Donnie are Donald Trump Jr.'s two oldest children, out of 5.


Kai appears to be sporting a two tone Lady Datejust on a Jubilee bracelet and Donnie is wearing a sports model that looks like a GMT-Master of Submariner. It’s not every day you see teenagers rocking Rolex, but then again, they’re Trumps.


Donald John Trump III pictured above 
and Kai Trump pictured below

Saturday, January 25, 2025

President Trump Speaks @ Davos 2025 at the World Economic Forum

  Weekend Watching

President Trump 
 
Trump Speaks @ Davos

If you are a regular reader of Jake's Rolex World you likely saw my extensive coverage recently of President Trump's inauguration earlier this week, and suffice it to say, my head is still spinning just trying to keep up to date on the all the amazing progress that has been made in such a short period of time. The article I published on Monday of this past week, was all about Rolex watches as I showcased a great deal of modern Rolex watch history. This story is also about Rolex watches, but as you will soon read, on a different level.


Trump gave a stunning speech on Trade at Davos in Switzerland a few days ago, and seems to have completely freaked out everybody with his amazingly aggressive trajectory toward his complete overhaul of the United States. In his speech he said some shocking things like: 

"We have accomplished more in the past 4 days...than other administrations have accomplish in 4 years—and we're just getting started." 


Regardless of ones political leaning, and I personally am politically agnostic, in the sense I have no political affiliation. My ONLY criteria throughout my life has been to ask what is best for my fellow human beings and Mother Earth. Yes, I have always been proud to be an American, but I consider having been highly fortunate to have been born in the United States to be more akin to winning the lottery than some kind of manifest destiny.

Boy, that was a mouthful to lead up to what I am about to say, but it appears clear to me that President Trump is on a hardcore tear, and is hellbent on leaving behind a world-class legacy. Think about it for a moment. He can't run again, so he really has nothing to lose, and he is going petal-to-the-metal, full speed ahead.

For the second part of this story, I am doing something a little bit unusual. I am republishing the story below in it's entirety that I originally published on RolexMagazine.com back on January 26, 2018, as I believe it's fascinating to compare and contrast President Trump's most recent 2025 Davos speech covered above, with his last Davos speech I covered:


World Economic Forum 

Davos, Switzerland

When most people think about Switzerland it conjures up watches, chocolate, fondue, great skiing, but Switzerland is one of the most important diplomatic hubs in the world, and as I write this the 2018 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is currently underway in Davos, Switzerland. U.S. President Donald Trump is the first U.S. President since Bill Clinton to attend the World Economic Forum and is scheduled to give the keynote speech. The Daily Mail has great coverage of this event if you are interested in learning more.

There is something so majestic and almost hypnotic about watching such a big bird descend and touch-down...


During the Obama administration, I ran a story that showed a great photo of Air Force One as it prepared to land in Cuba, but that story didn't have any video so I am making up for it now.  


It's a trip to watch Air Force One touching down in Switzerland at the Zurich Airport (@4:50). What's most interesting is to see the fleet of U.S. Military helicopters in the air, escorting Marine One, which looks like a scene out of Apocolypse Now (@1:40). Later in the video, we see the fleet of helicopters taking-off to escort Marine One to Davos.






If you are a regular reader of Jake's Rolex World, you might also be aware that I publish another online magazine named, "Jake's Presidential World", since I have always been fascinated with the trappings of the U.S. Presidency. Below is a video of President Trump Meeting with some of the most successful business leaders in the world.



The video below is of President Trump's speech that addressed the World Economic Forum.



If You Were Negotiating Here Tomorrow 
You'd Wear A Rolex
Geneva's Palais des Nations

This vintage Rolex ad showcases what is now referred to as UNOG, which stands for The United Nations Office At Geneva. The "Palace Of Nations" was built in Geneva between 1929 and 1936 as the headquarters for the League of Nations, which later evolved into the Geneva headquarters for the United Nations in 1946. Today, The United Nations In Geneva is busier than ever with international diplomats, and it primarily deals with social issues around the world.

Vintage Rolex Ad Appears Courtesy of The Concannon Collection


Conclusion 

What Does President Trump's 2025 Davos Speech Have To Do With Rolex?

The answer is simple: Everything and nothing. The fact the World Economic Forum is headquartered in Switzerland is—of course—fascinating, but most importantly, Rolex is a shining example of a company that has always endured and prospered through-thick-and-thin. The United States market has always been Rolex's bread-and-butter market in the sense, to the best of my knowledge, it has always remained Rolex's largest most stable marketplace. Rolex prospered and has been the ultimate beneficiary over the past decade on many fronts, from the advent of the Apple Watch, through the COVID-19 Crisis.

Let me be specific, for the sake of clarity: To the best of my knowledge, Rolex and Apple are the two largest watch companies on earth today by gross sales. Apple owns the lower price-point of the watch market based upon their much lower average selling price of somewhere around $1000 per watch (having sold somewhere around 37 million watches in 2024 for around $37 Billion at the retail price point). 

NOTE: I have no inside information for actual watch sales number or financial information for Apple or Rolex. I simply used Grok AI, and asked it for answers, (which I included in parentheses above and below for Frame-of-reference).

Rolex is the opposite in the sense they don't sell nearly as many watches in quantity, but have an average price-point of around $14,000 per watch. (having sold somewhere around 1.25 million watches in 2024 for around $17.2 Billion at the retail price point). 

Just to break this data down a step further, would be to recognize that Apple sells 37 million watches per year at retail, whereas Rolex sells 1.25 Million watches at retail. So Apple sells close to 30 times more watches that Rolex, but Rolex is likely more profitable on a per unit basis. This is speculation on my behalf, but either way, the numbers tell a fascinating story. Also, it is important to consider Apple Watches are really computers on the wrist, where Rolex watches are actual highly mechanical masterpieces.

It's profoundly ironic to consider that when Apple originally launched the Apple Watch they offered a $10,000 yellow gold variant, which was almost immediately discontinued as nobody wanted to invest that much money in watch that could not stand the test of time, and maintain it's value proposition.

I would argue the Apple Watch is probably one of the best things that ever happened to Rolex because it caused a whole new generation of people to pay attention to the wrist, which is highly ironic as Apple was the one that was initially caused people to stop wearing watches, as they would just use their omnipresent iPhone to tell time.

So through the COVID crisis, many people were stuck at home and paid a lot of attention to the watch market, and many people grew weary of the Apple Watch as it was relatively high-maintenance in the sense it has to be charged every night, or it wouldn't work. In other words, many people wanted something more, and it a world were suddenly Apple Watches were omnipresent, customers wanted to differentiate themselves with a different wrist watch, but in particular one that ideally would potentially appreciate as an asset, as apposed to depreciate as Apple Watches regularly do as Apple introduces new models every year that do and offer more.

For the record, I am a fan of both the Apple Watch and I have long self-declared myself as the President of the Rolex fan club. This is a little bit unusual, as most people prefer one or the other. When I wear an Apple Watch, ironically I wear it like a Rolex in the sense that I wear it for at a glance timekeeping only. In other words, I keep all the highly annoying notifications turned off, and I don't use it for keeping track of my health, as I highly agree with Roger Federer that I don't need a watch or phone to tell me if I am getting enough exercise or not.

So what does my stroll down memory lane in the Rolex Time Machine and all my watch psychoanalysis have to do with President Tump's Davos Speech??? If Trump makes it halfway, or even a quarter of the way to where he is trying to take the U.S. economy, we are going to witness potentially the single largest economic boom in history!!! Regardless of whether you like or dislike President Trump, you cannot help but notice his leadership is providing a stone-cold-sober, supercharged upper financial trajectory, and that, as previously mentioned, if it succeeds only partway, could radically benefit future Rolex sale in the United State and abroad.

Below is a fascinating short video interview of David Sacks, which President Trump appointed as his AI and Crypto Czar, and David is not only extremely intelligent and charismatic, but wicked-smart and insightful. If what has occurred in less than a week is any kind of indication of what is to come, they I say watch out for flying brick!!!!!