Politics
Trump Skips U.S. Open After Learning 'Open' Is a Policy Position
By Mor Michael, . BSN Network. Satire.
President Trump did not attend the 2026 U.S. Open tennis tournament at Flushing Meadows, skipping an event he has attended in previous years after a reported disagreement with organizers over what the tournament is allowed to be called.
According to people familiar with the situation, Trump proposed that the United States Tennis Association rename the event the U.S. Closed, arguing that the word "Open" undermines the administration's messaging on immigration and border policy. The USTA declined. Trump then did not go.
This is, apparently, where sports diplomacy is now.
The president's position, as reconstructed from people who were in the room and immediately left the room, is that a major international sporting event broadcasting the word "Open" to a global audience creates what one senior official described as "a mixed signal." The official did not specify what a correctly mixed signal would look like or whether tennis itself is the problem.
Speaking to supporters at a rally in Harrisburg on Wednesday, Trump addressed the absence directly.
"I love tennis, I've always loved tennis, some of my best properties have courts, beautiful courts, the best courts, but I'm not going to sit in a stadium that says 'Open' on the logo when we are working very hard, harder than anyone has ever worked, to get this country Closed," Trump said. "They could have called it the U.S. Closed. Very simple. Very strong. I actually think it's a better name. Stronger. The U.S. Open sounds like a door that somebody forgot to shut."
The USTA issued a statement thanking all fans, players and dignitaries who attended the tournament and noting that the event has been called the U.S. Open since 1968. The statement did not mention the president. It did, however, use the word "open" eleven times, which may or may not have been intentional and which the White House press office has not yet addressed.
Carlos Alcaraz, who won the men's singles title, was asked at his post-match press conference whether he had any thoughts on the naming dispute. He said he was very happy to have won, that the courts were in excellent condition, and that he did not know what a U.S. Closed would be. A reporter clarified. Alcaraz said he still did not know what a U.S. Closed would be.
The president's advisors spent the week attempting to reframe the boycott as a scheduling conflict. By Thursday, the scheduling conflict had evolved into a principled stand against globalist branding in American athletics. By Friday, Stephen Miller had drafted a two-page memo recommending that all federally recognized sporting events undergo a terminology audit to ensure that no event name "implies porousness at the conceptual level."
The memo reportedly also flags the term "open bar" at White House functions as a potential vulnerability, pending further review.
Former tournament director Jim Curley, who has been attending the U.S. Open since 1989, told a reporter outside Arthur Ashe Stadium that he thought the whole thing was strange. "It's tennis," he said. "The ball goes back and forth. Nobody is crossing anything."
He then bought a $22 lemonade and walked away, which is the correct response.
The U.S. Open concluded on Sunday. The trophy was presented. The word "open" appeared on a banner behind the winner. The border remained, by all accounts, exactly where it was.
The tournament is scheduled to return next year under its current name, assuming the name survives the audit.