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The Arnaults Go to Washington

The LVMH royal family’s courtship of Trump at the inauguration, once mocked, now looks wisely proactive, with Bernard and Alexandre returning to meet with the president in the Oval Office. Were they lobbying for a luxury carve-out on looming 20 percent tariffs?

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donald trump bernard arnault
The Arnaults have some leverage in this regard: The Trump administration, whatever its plan may be, has shown an openness to exemptions for powerful multinationals and blue chip brands. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images
Lauren Sherman
May 15, 2025

Last week, while the rest of the fashion industry was fretting over who was best or worst dressed at the Met Gala, LVMH C.E.O. Bernard Arnault and his son Alexandre, the zealous co-C.E.O. of the company’s beleaguered wine and spirits division Moët Hennessy, headed to Washington, D.C. They had a meeting with the president of the United States to discuss tariffs and various other matters of importance to their multinational conglomerate, which controls a large percentage of the luxury industry.

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