President Donald Trump claimed he hiked tariffs on Swiss goods because he didn’t like how Switzerland’s “prime minister” spoke to him, a position that doesn’t exist in the country’s government.
In a Fox Business interview, Trump explained that he initially imposed a 30% tariff on Swiss imports to shrink a $42 billion trade deficit.
According to him, he received an urgent phone call from what he described as the “prime minister of Switzerland,” who he said was “very aggressive, but nice.”
“We are a small country. We can’t do this,” Trump recalled her saying repeatedly. He added, “I couldn’t get her off the phone.”
Instead of easing up on the tariffs, Trump said he increased them to 39% because, as he put it, “I didn’t really like the way she talked to us.”
But the story quickly raised eyebrows. Switzerland does not have a prime minister.
The country is led by a seven-member Federal Council, with a rotating president who serves primarily as a ceremonial figure.
Questions About Gifts and Influence
Now, the incident is drawing renewed scrutiny for more than just geography flubs.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, is seeking answers about whether Trump violated the law by accepting high-value gifts from Swiss businessmen shortly before significantly cutting the same tariffs.
In a Jan. 28 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Wyden asked about a Rolex table clock and a 1-kilogram gold bar, valued together at more than $170,000, which Trump accepted in November 2025.
The items were reportedly presented as donations to Trump’s presidential library during a private Oval Office meeting.
Accepting such gifts “creates an apparent conflict of interest and possible violations of the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution,” Wyden wrote.
Less than two weeks after receiving the items, Trump dropped the Swiss tariffs from 39% to 15%.
The White House denied any wrongdoing.
“The only special interest guiding President Trump’s decision-making is the best interest of the American people, and any suggestion otherwise is completely unfounded,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told Bloomberg.
Swiss exporters welcomed the tariff rollback, and Swiss trade official Helene Budliger Artieda publicly thanked the business leaders involved.
Swiss Lawmakers Call for Bribery Probe
In Switzerland, the story hasn’t gone unnoticed. Two Swiss lawmakers have asked the country’s top prosecutor to investigate whether the gifts constituted bribery.
While no formal case has been opened, the Swiss Attorney General’s office confirmed that a review is ongoing.
The gold bar came from precious metals firm MKS-Pamp, which said the donation was legal and cleared by White House ethics officials. Rolex declined to comment.
Gifts and Flattery as a Strategy
The Swiss incident is part of a broader trend where foreign leaders use personal gifts and flattering gestures to build rapport with Trump.
In February 2025, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer hand-delivered a letter from King Charles III inviting Trump for a second state visit.
Later that year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave Trump a custom golf putter engraved with “Let’s putt peace together”, a gift from a war veteran.
Zelensky also gave Melania Trump a personal letter from his wife.
Qatar donated a luxury Boeing 747 intended for the U.S. Defense Department and presidential library use.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa brought Trump a book on golf courses, but didn’t gain much traction.
Wyden Criticizes Justification for Original Tariff
Wyden also questioned the original justification for the tariff itself.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump said he imposed the tariff because then-Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter “just rubbed me the wrong way.”
“The American public and U.S. importers and consumers who pay the tariffs are entitled to a government that pursues trade policy in the public interest, rather than on the basis of the President’s whims,” Wyden wrote.
The Supreme Court is currently reviewing the legality of Trump’s tariff decisions. Until it rules, the tariffs remain in place, costing U.S. importers over $16 billion per month, according to federal data.
While Trump’s comments about the Swiss “prime minister” grabbed headlines for being factually off-base, critics say the bigger concern is whether U.S. trade policy is being swayed by flattery, favoritism, or personal grievances.
His apparent confusion over Switzerland’s political structure, mistaking a ceremonial rotating president for a non-existent prime minister, suggests a shaky grasp of international roles.
IMAGE CREDIT: “Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Image adjusted for layout.