U.S. Open broadcasters were reportedly asked to censor reaction to Trump. Fans still booed

Well, you can't say the audience at the U.S. Open isn't engaged.

Raucous fans at the international competition known for its rowdiness have cheered, booed, roared, tossed back honey deuces brimming with vodka, gotten down on one knee to propose, thrown drinks, grabbed hats from children, shouted "sign the baby!" and generally been accused of disrespecting the actual game of tennis in favour of having a boozy good time.

So, one might expect a reaction of some sort to U.S. President Donald Trump showing up for a match in the historically blue state of New York. The U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) reportedly expected it, too.

According to an internal memo originally obtained by tennis reporting website Bounces, and as reported by multiple media outlets, the USTA asked U.S. Open broadcasters to censor any reaction or protest to Trump during his appearance at the men's singles final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday.

The USTA reportedly sent a memo to broadcasters, saying that Trump will be shown on tournament feeds during the opening anthem ceremony. Broadcasters were also asked in the memo to "refrain from showcasing any disruptions or reactions in response to the president's attendance in any capacity."

"We appreciate your understanding and co-operation," the USTA email to broadcast personnel concludes, according to Bounces.

CBC News has reached out to the USTA for confirmation and not yet heard back. On Sunday, a White House official told ABC News that any request for censorship to crowd reactions didn't come from them.

What we can confirm is that the crowd did indeed boo the U.S. president — and the sounds were audible in at least some news feeds.

"ABC and ESPN refused to kowtow," wrote USA Today Opinion author Nancy Armour. "While they didn't linger on Trump when he was shown during the national anthem ahead of the men's final ... they didn't filter out the reaction to him, either. The jeers and catcalls, resounding in Arthur Ashe Stadium, were clearly audible."

So, what happened at the match?

First of all, extra security caused by Trump's visit led to lines long enough that many people missed the start of play, even after organizers delayed it.

"The fact that a good portion of the crowd missed the first set, because of the fuss about the president, is very much in keeping with his image as a disrupter," Tom Tebbutt, a Toronto-based tennis journalist and member of the Canadian Tennis Hall of Fame, told CBC News.

Trump briefly emerged from his suite about 45 minutes before the match started and heard a mix of boos and cheers from a stadium that was still mostly empty. No announcement proceeded his appearance, and it was brief enough that some in the crowd missed it.

Trump appeared again to more boos before the national anthem. Standing in salute, the president was shown briefly on the arena's big screens during the anthem, and offered a smirk that briefly made the boos louder, the Associated Press reports.

Trump was shown on the big screen again after the first set ended, and elicited a roar of louder boos and some piercing whistles. He raised his left fist in salute as the noise continued in the stadium, which with a capacity of 24,000 is one of the largest in tennis.

"Viewers watching the match on television, though, got only fleeting glimpses of some of Trump's moments," wrote the New York Times. "When he was shown on the video screens, fans unleashed a loud round of mostly boos, with some cheers mixed in."

An ABC television broadcast showed Trump stepping out of a box seat after arriving to wave to the still-sparse crowd, but it did not include crowd audio. Cheers and boos were audible during the ESPN feed of a later Trump appearance before the start of the event, according to Reuters.

A spokesperson for the USTA told several media outlets that "we regularly ask our broadcasters to refrain from showcasing off-court disruptions."

'The fans were great'

Trump, for his part, said the fans were "great," telling reporters upon arriving back at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Sunday that he enjoyed himself.

"I used to go all the time. But, you know, lately it's a little bit more difficult to go," he said.

"I didn't know what to expect. Usually, you would say that would be a somewhat progressive, as they say nowadays, crowd ... some people would call it liberal," he said. "But they were great, the fans were great."

Among those attending with Trump were White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff.

Leavitt posted a video on X showing Trump signing hats in the crowd. "The People's President," she wrote.

Trump was once a U.S. Open mainstay, but hasn't attended since he was loudly booed at a quarterfinals match in September 2015, months after launching his first presidential campaign.

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