Capital Economy, Business and Finance
Bernard Arnault was one of the more unlikely faces to be spotted at Trump’s inauguration. Or so you might think.
In fact the relationship between the property mogul and the boss of the LVMH empire goes back to the 80s when they met at a charity dinner at the Plaza Hotel in New York.
More recently, Arnault phoned Trump to congratulate him on surviving an assassination attempt.
His second-eldest son, Alexandre, is friends with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, while Ivanka is a devotee of Dior, a company run by Arnault’s eldest, Delphine.
These ties matter because France, where LVMH produces most of its goods, is in Trump’s firing line for tariffs.
During Trump’s first term, Arnault managed to secure an exemption for luxury goods by opening handbag factories in the US.
The WSJ reports LVMH has further plans to expand in the US as Chinese demand dips.
