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 honor 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 Fifa’s world club championship, which will also take place in the US in 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 2% to €20.3 billion (US$23 billion) in the first quarter as Trump’s tariffs shook the global economy.

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