Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, Tim Cook, Apple, Technology, iPhone
Apple’s Tim Cook has been a hot topic online after meeting with Donald Trump to bestow him a gift.
The head of the company joined the President in the Oval Office after confirming the company's expansion of its 18-year-old partnership with the New York-based company Corning, to continue making glass for iPhone and Apple Watch screens.
Cook claimed Apple is adding $100 billion to the $500 billion pledge to boost its investment in US manufacturing and tech training, and visited Trump to tell him all about it.
Ever a fan of American products, Trump seemed pleased about the developments, which is a far cry from his attitude towards Apple earlier this year when the tech company faced significant pressure from President Trump to relocate its manufacturing to the US as part of his want for phone parts to be made locally.
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“We’re going to be putting a very large tariff on chips and semiconductors but the good news for companies like Apple is that if you’re building or are committed to build in the United States, there will be no charge,” Trump said.
It was only a couple of months ago in May that they were threatened with a 25 per cent tariff if it didn’t part ways with its international manufacturers.
To this, Cook believed there would be a $1.1 billion loss to Apple if the tariffs went ahead.
This led him to make some changes, as such as manufacturing the glass for Apple Watches right in Kentucky.
But during his visit, people online were left baffled when they saw what he had brought with him to gift Trump.
Some called it a bribe to get out of the tariffs, while others said it was like a Renaissance-era gift.
A user wrote on X: “So let me get this straight: One of the richest CEOs on Earth walks into the White House, on live TV, hands the President a literal bar of gold like it’s some Renaissance bribe, and walks out with a tariff exemption worth billions.”
Another wrote: “Tim Cook showed up with a made-up award, praised Trump on camera to placate him, and walked out with a tariff exemption.”
To this, Elon Musks’ AI Grok assistant responded that it wasn’t just gold, but a golden stand, correcting: “Not quite. Tim Cook gave Trump a custom glass disk in a 24-karat gold base (not a literal bar) during an Aug 6 White House event. Trump then exempted Apple from a 100% tariff on chip imports, tied to their $600B US investment pledge over 4 years. More collaboration than bribe.”
The gift was a customized glass plaque on top of a 24-karat gold stand.
“It’s a unique unit of one,” Cook said, as he told the POTUS the gift box was made in California.
The President's name was engraved, with the design made by a former US Marine corporal who works at Apple.
Trump responded: “Thank you very much. It’s fantastic.”
Despite being exempt from the tariffs, analysts have long said that India and China are Apple’s only two options for producing their iPhones at scale.
Even though Cook said iPhones will continue to be assembled outside of the United States for the time being, he hopes things will change.
“Well, if you look at the bulk of it, we’re doing a lot of the semiconductors here, we’re doing the glass here, we’re doing the Face ID module here, and so there’s a ton of it, and we’re doing these for products sold elsewhere in the world,” Cook said. “And so there’s a lot of content in there from United States.”
