Donald Trump is set to meet with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Friday at Mar-a-Lago, marking another high-profile engagement with tech leaders. Sources familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity, confirmed the private dinner.
This meeting follows recent discussions Trump held with tech executives, including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg in November and Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai on Thursday. Next week, Trump plans to meet Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Neither Apple nor Trump’s representatives have commented on the upcoming dinner.
Cook’s relationship with Trump was notably cordial during Trump’s first term, with Cook successfully advocating against tariffs that would have impacted Apple. Trump is now proposing sweeping tariffs of up to 60% on Chinese goods, posing challenges for Apple, as most iPhones are manufactured in China despite ongoing efforts to diversify production.
The meeting comes as Apple faces regulatory challenges under President Biden’s administration, including a Justice Department antitrust case and global scrutiny of its operations. In contrast, Cook congratulated Trump after his election victory, expressing optimism about collaborating with his administration to drive innovation and creativity.
Trump has previously criticized Apple over its refusal to create backdoors in its operating system for law enforcement. On the campaign trail, he called on the company to assist in accessing data from phones tied to security threats.
While Apple does not have a political action committee, its employees donated $4.6 million during the 2024 election cycle, with nearly 95% going to Democratic candidates, according to OpenSecrets.
