Two Swiss lawmakers have asked federal prosecutors to examine whether expensive gifts given to President Donald Trump by prominent Swiss business leaders may have violated the country’s anti-bribery laws.
The gifts — including a gold bar and a Rolex table clock — were presented during a White House meeting that took place about a week before the Trump administration reduced tariffs on Swiss goods.
Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing, and a source close to the Swiss delegation that visited the Oval Office told Newsweek that the items were donated to the presidential library, which is allowed under U.S. ethics rules.
Why It Matters
The episode underscores the ethical gray area surrounding lavish gifts, diplomatic access, and high-level lobbying. While such gifts can be legal if properly disclosed or donated, the timing and value can raise questions about influence and optics.
Trump, who is known for his affinity for gold and luxury items, has in this term received gifts ranging from a gold-and-glass disc from Apple to a $400 million 747 jet provided to his presidential library by the government of Qatar.
Although Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing, the fact that the Swiss gifts were given just days before U.S. tariffs on Swiss goods were eased has prompted debate over whether such expensive items to a sitting president could be perceived as attempts to influence policy.
What To Know
Earlier this month, Trump met with a group of Swiss business leaders at the White House to discuss U.S.–Swiss trade relations, following the imposition of high U.S. tariffs on Swiss products that have weighed on Switzerland’s economy.
According to Axios, executives from Rolex, Partners Group, Mercuria, Richemont, and MKS PAMP attended the meeting, while another executive from MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company helped arrange the visit but ultimately did not participate.
During the Oval Office meeting, the business leaders presented Trump with their gifts.
Axios reported that the 1-kilogram gold bar, engraved with the numbers 45 and 47 to reference Trump’s presidential terms, is worth around $130,000.
Ten days after the meeting, the U.S. announced a framework agreement that reduced a tariff on Swiss goods from 39 percent to 15 percent.
Two Swiss Green Party lawmakers, Raphael Mahaim and Greta Gysin, subsequently wrote to the country’s public prosecutor asking whether the gifts might violate provisions of the Swiss Criminal Code.
A source close to the Swiss business leaders who attended the meeting told Newsweek: “The gifts were presented to the Presidential Library on behalf of the group who attended the meeting, in full compliance with both U.S. and Swiss law.”
The Swiss attorney general’s office confirmed to The Telegraph that it had received three criminal complaints.
“The office of the attorney general is reviewing these complaints as usual,” a spokesperson said. “It is important to note that the receipt of a criminal complaint does not automatically mean that a criminal investigation has been opened.”
What People Are Saying
In his letter to Switzerland’s public prosecutor, Mahaim wrote, according to The Telegraph: “The average person rightly questions the legality of these gifts offered to the American president in order to obtain his unblocking of a trade negotiation file.”
“We question the compatibility of these gifts with Article 322 of the Swiss Penal Code. The end does not justify all means, especially when respect for important provisions of our legal system is at stake.”
Toomas Kull, a public relations consultant at the Swiss PR agency CPC, told Newsweek in an emailed statement: “In Switzerland, filing this kind of report and sending it to the media is used to grab public attention. It’s about making noise and shaping perception, rather than making an actual legal challenge.”
What Happens Next
The Swiss public prosecutor will now review the complaints submitted by the Green Party lawmakers and decide whether to open a formal investigation into the gifts. Under Swiss law, the filing of a complaint does not automatically trigger a criminal case; prosecutors must first determine whether the allegations warrant a full probe.
