Trump praises Tim Cook and notes how he made Apple's CEO "kiss my ass"
In a Truth Social post, President Trump had mostly kind words to say about Tim Cook and the late Steve Jobs.
Trump praises Apple CEO in Truth Social post | Image by Apple
President Donald Trump took some time off from his typical Truth Social posts to type some comments praising Apple CEO Tim Cook. "I have always been a fan of Tim Cook," the president wrote, while adding that despite also being a fan of Cook's predecessor, the late Steve Jobs, he feels that Apple would not have done as well had Jobs not passed away in 2011.
In 2016, then candidate Trump told followers to boycott Apple
Trump might have forgotten that he called for a boycott of Apple in February 2016 when he was a candidate for president, and Tim Cook was running the tech giant. Apple had failed to abide by a court order that demanded it build a special version of iOS that would allow the FBI to break into an iPhone 5C belonging to a terrorist.
TRump picked Cook over Jobs. Who do you think ran Apple better?
On Twitter, as the social-media platform was known as back then, Trump wrote, "If Apple doesn’t give info to authorities on the terrorists, I’ll only be using Samsung until they give info." He also told his followers to boycott Apple leading an unnamed Apple executive to say that Trump's comment put Apple in the same category as other good people he has criticized.
Cook has been quicker to reach for a check during Trump's second term
During Trump's first term, he said that he was told by Cook that Apple was about to build in the U.S. "three big plants, beautiful plants," although, by all indications, Cook said no such thing. Most of Trump's first term was spent by Cook trying to avoid having the president announce tariffs on iPhone units assembled in China. Also during his first term, Trump famously called Tim Cook "Tim Apple" during a meeting of the American Workforce Policy Advisory.
The Glass and Gold present Tim Cook gave to President Trump last year. | Image by Apple
During Trump's current term, Cook has been writing big personal checks to Trump including a $1 million check to the Presidential Inaugural Committee. He's also contributed a personal donation to help the president build his ballroom in the White House.
What I do is I interact on policy, not politics. I’m not a political person on either side. I’m not political, and so I’m kind of straight down the middle.
Tim Cook, CEO, Apple
Last August, Cook presented Trump with an expensive and custom-made 24-karat gold base that holds a circular glass disc made of Corning Gorilla Glass. The glass came from Corning's U.S. factory in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, signifying Apple's commitment to U.S.-based manufacturing.
Trump writes in a Truth that he was impressed with himself because he got the head of Apple to "kiss my ass"
In today's Truth Social post, Trump said that he first spoke with Cook at the beginning of his first term when the Apple CEO had an undisclosed problem that Trump wrote "only I as President could fix." Trump continued by saying how impressed he was with himself to get the head of Apple to "kiss my ass."
For his part, Tim Cook says that he is not political, yet he has played the president perfectly knowing exactly what to say at times. For example, when Trump was threatening to impose tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S. including the iPhone, Cook reportedly pointed out to Trump how that action would help Samsung sell more phones than Apple in the U.S. because Galaxy handsets are built in South Korea, Vietnam, and India, not in China.
President Trump's Truth Social post about Tim Cook. | Image by Truth Social
Trump will soon be new CEO John Ternus' problem
Speaking of India, Apple has been moving production of iPhone units earmarked for the U.S. to India from China. This upset Trump who wanted the iPhone to be built in the U.S. and he threatened to place a 25% tariff on all iPhone units not made in the U.S.
Dealing with President Trump will become a problem for new CEO John Ternus, who will become the tech giant's top executive on September 1. Described as being as laid back as Tim Cook, it's possible that Ternus will act in a similar fashion as Cook did when it comes to the president.
One thing that we can be sure of. Trump will get Ternus on the phone just before September 1st in order to check out Apple's new CEO.
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