Apple CEO Tim Cook pledged to donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration committee.
The donation comes following a strained relationship between Cook and the Biden administration after the Justice Department sued Apple in March, alleging the company had a monopoly on the smartphone market.
Cook rarely interacted with President Joe Biden, but during the Trump administration, he was a regular visitor to the White House. Cook would strategize with Trump on achieving Apple’s and Trump’s mutual interests, the Wall Street Journal reported.
As Trump proposes to implement tough tariffs to attack China’s growing supremacy, where Apple makes many of its products, Cook will try to emulate the positive relationship he created with the president-elect during his first administration. In 2019, Cook was able to convince Trump over dinner in 2019 that a tariff on phones created in China would actually hurt Apple and help South Korean rival Samsung.
Cook also was able to persuade Trump to reduce a 15% tariff on the Apple Watch by arguing it was a life-saving device.
And just weeks before the election, Cook called Trump to complain to him about the European Union slapping the company with billions of dollars in penalties in an effort to rein in Apple’s reach.
A possible strategy is that once Trump is inaugurated, he will put in place retaliatory tariffs on the EU which will cause the EU to back off its attack on Apple.
Cook joined Trump for dinner in Mar-a-Lago in December, and he took to X to wish the president-elect congratulations on his election victory.
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“Congratulations President Trump on your victory!” Cook posted on X. “We look forward to engaging with you and your administration to help make sure the United States continues to lead with and be fueled by ingenuity, innovation, and creativity.”
Cook joins other Silicon Valley companies like Amazon and Meta, as well as Uber and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who have donated to Trump’s inauguration committee. Crypto exchanges Kraken and Coinbase have donated too.
