Trump made direct financial demands during call with Swiss president

Trump and Keller-Sutter had a telephone call on the eve of the US announcement of fresh tariffs of 39% on Swiss imports. Keystone

During the telephone call between Karin Keller-Sutter and Donald Trump on July 31, Trump demanded direct payments from Switzerland, according to an investigation by SonntagsBlick. Contrary to initial assumptions, the conversation was not initiated by Keller-Sutter, but by the US Trade Representative.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The details of the July 31 telephone conversation between Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter and her American counterpart Donald Trump had remained very vague until now. But an investigation by the SonntagsBlick newspaper, based on well-informed sources, has revealed some details.

Contrary to what was initially assumed, the call that preceded the 39% tariffs being imposed by the Trump administration was not initiated by Keller-Sutter, but by the US Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer. The latter is, in a way, “Switzerland’s secret observer within the US government,” notes the SonntagsBlick.

During the phone meeting, Trump made direct financial demands of the Swiss president. In particular, he referred to the European Union’s $600 billion (CHF484 million) in investments, reports the Sunday newspaper, presenting them not as investments but as a gift. “What are you paying me?” the US president then reportedly asked.

‘I don’t care about them’

Trump also reportedly showed condescension towards his own officials when Keller-Sutter mentioned the declaration of intent between Washington and Bern that the Swiss government had previously negotiated with Trump’s staff, namely Greer and his team. “I don’t care about them!” he told the Swiss president.

When questioned by the German-language newspaper, a spokesperson for Keller-Sutter declined to comment.

Translated from French with DeepL/gw

How we work

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.  

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at [e-mail].