This may be Donald Trump's 'problem No. 2' with Apple CEO Tim Cook
Apple
CEO
Tim Cook
's decision to skip President Trump's recent Middle East trip has escalated tensions between the tech giant and the
White House
, culminating in Trump's surprise threat of 25% tariffs on iPhones made outside the United States.
The president publicly criticized Cook during his Middle East tour, telling Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at a Riyadh event, "I mean, Tim Cook isn't here but you are." Later in Qatar, Trump said he "had a little problem with Tim Cook," specifically citing Apple's manufacturing expansion in India despite his preference for U.S. production.
The snub appeared to irritate Trump, who had encouraged major U.S. corporate leaders to join the diplomatic mission. Cook declined the invitation, according to sources familiar with the decision, as reported by The New York Times.
White House invitation snub backfires
The declined Middle East invitation has put Apple at a disadvantage, according to Washington insiders. Nu Wexler, a former policy communications executive at Google and Facebook, told The New York Times that Cook's "very public relationship" with Trump has backfired, making every Apple move subject to intense scrutiny.
The relationship marks a dramatic reversal for Cook, who was once among Trump's most favored executives. In 2019, Trump famously called him "a great executive because he calls me and others don't," though he also mistakenly referred to him as "Tim Apple."
Cook's influence as what industry observers called "tech's Trump whisperer" appears to be waning. The president's Friday morning social media post threatening iPhone tariffs caught both his administration and Apple leadership off guard, coming just over a month after Cook successfully lobbied for an exemption from 145% tariffs on Chinese-assembled iPhones.
'Make It in America' battle escalates
The dispute centers on where Americans' iPhones are made. Trump's tariff threat came after reports that Apple supplier Foxconn plans to spend $1.5 billion on a new iPhone plant in India - exactly what the president opposes. "If they're going to sell it in America, I want it to be built in the United States," Trump declared Friday.
Apple has tried to appease Trump with promises of $500 billion in U.S. investments over four years and sourcing 19 billion chips domestically. But Cook won't commit to making the devices Americans actually buy – iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks – on American soil.
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