Donald Trump has once more spoken about his dislike of Switzerland. What is it about this time?
In 2025, as Bern was trying to persuade the US president to lower the hefty 39-percent trade tariffs he had imposed on Swiss imports, it had become obvious that Trump was not a fan of Switzerland.
In an interview with Fox-TV in the United States, he bragged that he had imposed punitive tariffs on Switzerland because he didn’t like its then-president Karin Keller-Sutter.
Referring to her as ‘prime minister’ – a position that does not exist in Switzerland – Trump said that he didn’t appreciate the way Keller-Sutter ‘was aggressive’ in trying to persuade him to lower the tariffs.
The dislike he felt toward the Swiss president made him impose even higher import duties on Switzerland than he originally planned.
“So instead of granting a discount, I increased taxes to 39 percent,” he boasted.
This was then…what about now?
In the April 2026 interview with CNBC broadcaster about the trade tariffs, Trump accused Switzerland of profiting from the United States while contributing little in return.
Specifically, he said that Switzerland “is one of those countries long considered ‘elite’ – not because of their own performance, but because they made billions upon billions of dollars thanks to the United States.” (He did not elaborate on these figures).
He added that he had tried to put an end to Switzerland’s ‘entitled attitude’, notably through these high tariffs (which have since been deemed illegal).
“That’s when I realized that the Swiss weren’t the elite,” he added. “The elite – that’s us.”
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Is Trump’s argument based on fact?
His claim that Switzerland’s economy has been performing well solely because of the United States is not true.
While the US is Switzerland’s second-largest export market (after Germany), Switzerland ‘s success is largely due to its own economic and political stability, the strength of its currency, as well as innovation and effective infrastructure.
READ MORE: Why does Switzerland defy economic downturns better than its neighbours?
In fact, in areas such as competitiveness, Switzerland consistently outperforms the United States: in the the 2025 World Competitiveness Ranking, for instance, Switzerland took the first place, while the US is in the 13th.
Ditto for innovation: in the 2025 Global Innovation Index, Switzerland took the top spot, while the United States sits in the 6th place.
So saying that Switzerland is not ‘elite’, while the US is, is a bit of a stretch.
