Trump hosts LVMH boss as tariffs threaten luxury goods

[WASHINGTON] US President Donald Trump hosted the head of luxury giant LVMH, Bernard Arnault, at the White House on Tuesday (May 6) as the group confronts a dent in sales from Trump’s tariffs.

Europe’s richest man, whose firm produces Louis Vuitton bags and Dom Perignon champagne, made a surprise appearance in the Oval Office alongside his son Alexandre.

“Bernard, it’s an honour to have you. We’ll have a meeting after this,” Trump said, pointing to the Frenchman during the swearing-in ceremony for presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff.

The Arnaults also attended an earlier event at the White House on the preparations for the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.

Jeweller Tiffany, another LVMH firm, designed the trophy for Fifa’s Club World Cup, which will also take place in the US in the summer of 2025.

A quarter of LVMH’s sales come from the US, meaning it is especially vulnerable to tariffs. It saw sales in the first quarter of 2025 fall two per cent to 20.3 billion euros (S$29.7 billion).

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Arnault and two of his children were among prominent figures at Trump’s inauguration ceremony on Jan 20. He said in February that he did not want to talk about tariffs and would “prefer to try and act calmly”. AFP