Former President Donald Trump has nothing but good things to say about Apple CEO Tim Cook.
In a new interview, Trump said the two spoke on the phone earlier this week and credited Cook for the tech giant’s success.
Referring to Apple’s founder and former CEO, who died of cancer in 2011, President Trump said, “If Tim Cook didn’t run Apple, Steve Jobs wouldn’t run Apple.” I don’t think it would have been as successful as it is if I had run it,” he said. “I think Tim Cook has done a great job. And I’m not knocking Steve Jobs.”
President Trump made the comments in a podcast interview with Patrick Bett-David published Thursday. Bette David asked Trump about his relationship with Cook after Trump revealed the two had spoken just “two hours” before the taping.
“And two hours ago, three hours ago, he called me,” Trump said in an interview. “He said, ‘I want to talk to you.’ ‘What?’ He said, ‘The European Union just fined us $15 billion.’ That’s a lot. ”
In September, the EU’s highest court found that Apple owed Ireland 13 billion euros ($14.4 billion) worth of back taxes. Earlier this year, in March, the European Union imposed a $2 billion antitrust fine on Apple for restricting competitors’ access to its Apple Music streaming service on the iOS App Store.
President Trump expressed his astonishment at the amount of the EU’s fine against Apple, calling it “a huge amount.”
“I also said Apple, can you pay for it? I mean, do you have something like that, that’s a lot of money,” Trump said.
Trump later drew parallels with his own legal troubles in the United States, where he was convicted of 34 felonies in one criminal case and is still awaiting trial on three others.
“I understand that feeling because I too have been fined and had sham cases filed against me. But I don’t know yet if his case is a fabrication, but there are a lot of them,” Trump said. .
Trump went on to detail his relationship with Cook, calling it productive. In 2019, while President Trump was in the White House, the United States imposed a series of tariffs on certain imports from China. The products subject to the tariffs include certain parts needed to manufacture Apple products, which Cook had sought to avoid. Mr. Cook then met with Mr. Trump to pursue his claims directly. The former president granted Cook a waiver on the condition that Apple invest in manufacturing the Mac Pro in the United States. In fact, Apple was already manufacturing computers in Texas.
Mr. Cook later presented Mr. Trump with a Mac Pro made at a manufacturing facility in Texas.
Regarding his discussions with Cook, President Trump said he appreciated the Apple CEO’s personal involvement in the issue.
“Most companies send lobbyists who are paid millions of dollars to speak on their behalf,” Trump said. “And they’d probably say, ‘We know Trump.’ He made the call himself. [He] I didn’t have to pay a dime. He was right, so I gave him 100% what he wanted. ”
Mr. Cook’s argument for the 2019 tariffs, Mr. Trump said, was that it would be much harder for Apple to compete with Samsung because it wouldn’t have to import parts from China.
Over the years, Mr. Trump has always spoken favorably of Mr. Cook. Trump said in August 2019, “Tim Cook calls Donald Trump directly. That’s why he’s a great manager. Because he calls me, and no one else calls him. ” he said.
During an interview with Bette David, Trump spoke of his excitement when he received a phone call from Cook in 2019. “Can I meet you?” He’s the head of Apple. And I was born in Queens, and I said, “Oh, the head of Apple wants to meet me.” Let’s go. ‘I’m the president, a Queens native, and I’m in charge of Apple’s mission. ”
Trump’s fondness for tariffs featured prominently in his campaign during his third bid for the White House. These are now part of President Trump’s major policy proposal, which aims to impose a 20% blanket tariff on all imports and 60% to 100% tariffs on products from China. Economists say the policy would lead to widespread inflation and higher costs for consumers.
When asked for comment on whether a future Trump administration would intervene in the EU on Apple’s behalf, Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes cited “Elon Musk as evidence of the strength of Trump’s economic policies. and industry leaders like David Sachs. “President Trump’s agenda includes economic, energy and regulatory policies that will enable America to regain its global lead in innovation and technology,” Hughes said in a statement.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
