- Apple CEO Tim Cook opens up about his relationship with President Trump
- Cook reiterates Apple’s commitment to American manufacturing
- We finally know if Cook plans to stay or leave anytime soon.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is finally opening up about his relationship with the Trump White House and his future, and his answers are likely to encourage some and frustrate others.
Cook, who has been at Apple for 28 years and has been CEO for 15 years, has opened up in a series of interviews to mark Apple’s 50th anniversary.
Cook isn’t really the navel-gazing type, and neither is Apple as a whole, a point Cook reiterated to me when I spoke to him at the first in-person 50th anniversary celebration at Grand Central Station in New York City.
Article continues below.
But now Cook is being pressed in interviews about the past, present, and some controversial topics, including his dealings with the Trump administration, tariffs, and whether or not Cook plans to step down as CEO (and possibly install Apple hardware leader John Ternus).
In a chat with Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan, Cook went to great lengths to explain his sometimes seemingly friendly relationship with President Donald Trump, who once called Cook “Tim Apple.”
Look
Cook attended Trump’s inauguration last year and, in August, presented Trump with a 24-karat gold and crystal trophy to commemorate the launch of Apple’s American Manufacturing Program. It featured the Apple logo in glass, Trump’s name and Cook’s signature.
Most recently, Cook attended a screening of the documentary Melania at the White House on the same day that U.S. Border Patrol agents shot and killed protester Alex Peretti.
Strahan pressed Cook about this apparent closeness to the administration and the criticism he received about it. Without addressing those criticisms directly, Cook explained his approach to the Trump White House.
“What I do is interact in politics, not politics. I’m not a political person on either side. I’m not a politician. So I’m in the middle and I focus on politics,” Cook said.
Cook added that he was pleased to be able to “talk to the president about politics.”
The distinction Cook makes is important. Instead of focusing on controversial topics, perhaps the stances the White House takes on issues like DEI, immigration, and the war in Iran, Cook focuses on policy decisions that directly affect Apple and its products.
Whether or not one believes that Cook is essentially apolitical, lives in the middle, and can so clearly isolate politics and policy, Cook’s statements and actions make his strategy clear.
As Cook told Strahan: “We are a very proud American company and we want to do everything we can here.” In recent years, Apple has been moving some iPhone glass manufacturing components and some Apple silicon to the United States, although iPhone assembly still takes place outside the United States.
For Cook and Apple, it seems, “politics” equals “business.” It’s pretty clear that Cook isn’t talking to Trump about affordable housing, hunger, and gas prices. Instead, it focuses on things that affect your iPhone. MacBook and iPad.
It’s a narrow view that may not appease all of his critics, but at least Cook has provided some clarity about how he runs a company that, in keeping with its stated values, sees business as something that “can and should be a force for good” while dealing with a U.S. administration that some see as working in the opposite direction.
Cook’s close relationship with the White House could soon be tested. When asked by Strahan about the $3.3 billion in U.S. tariffs Apple paid in the first three quarters of the fiscal year, and whether, as some companies are doing, it would sue to recover the funds, Cook didn’t exactly say that Apple won’t.
“Well, we’re monitoring the situation and seeing what the courts will rule there, and we’ll decide accordingly,” Cook said.
That’s not exactly a no.
Cook, it seems, will have time to figure it out. When Strahan asked if he was willing to step back, Cook said talk of it was just a rumor and that “I can’t imagine life without Apple.”
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course, you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube and tiktok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course, you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube and tiktok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course, you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube and tiktok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
