Two US senators are demanding answers from Belgium’s diamond industry over an extravagant gift presented to President Donald Trump weeks before European natural
diamonds were granted an exemption from new US import tariffs.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Richard Blumenthal have launched an inquiry into a gold ring decorated with diamonds and other precious stones that was presented to Trump by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC).
The senators are particularly concerned about the timing.
The ring was handed to Trump on 28 June. Less than a month later, on 24 July, the US president announced that European natural diamonds would be excluded from the new American import tariffs.
Warren accused foreign businesses of potentially using lavish gifts to secure favourable treatment from the Trump administration.
"This ring confirms that foreign companies can buy their exemption from import duties by simply showering Trump with conspicuous gifts," she said in a statement.
Warren and Blumenthal are now seeking detailed information from the Antwerp diamond sector about the circumstances surrounding the presentation. They want to establish whether the ring was intended to influence US policy or obtain preferential treatment for the European diamond industry.
The senators have also raised the possibility that the episode could have implications under US bribery laws, describing the gift as a potentially "cartoonish bribe".
Their inquiry comes as Washington continues to scrutinise trade relationships and the influence of foreign commercial interests over US policy. For the Belgian diamond industry, the issue is particularly sensitive given Antwerp's long-standing position as one of the world's major centres for the international diamond trade.
The AWDC has been given ten days to respond to the senators' questions.
As of Wednesday morning, the organisation had not provided a public response, with no representative immediately available for comment.
The central question for investigators is now whether the ring was simply a ceremonial gift — or whether its presentation, followed so quickly by a tariff exemption, warrants closer scrutiny. Photo by Tyler Allen, Wikimedia commons.