Apple CEO Tim Cook was at Mar-a-Lago Friday night for a private dinner with President-elect Donald Trump, according to a report from New York Times. Tim Cook joins the long list of technology executives who have met with Trump at his Florida resort in recent weeks. Unlike others, he never had any harsh words towards her.
A peaceful relationship
Sources close to the project say that Tim Cook and Trump were to dine on the Mar-a- terrace, a way of showing their closeness. The two men enjoyed a particularly warm relationship during Trump’s first term, contrasting with Trump’s more strained ties with other tech executives like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai, who also met with Trump recently.
This will be Tim Cook’s first meeting with Trump since his re-election last month. During Trump’s previous term, Tim Cook interacted frequently with the administration and received praise from Trump on several occasions, with Trump even calling him Tim Apple. Cook’s method has also been emulated, with other tech executives now trying a similar approach as Trump prepares for his second term.
In October, Cook reportedly spoke with Trump about Apple’s regulatory issues in the European Union, who assured him he would protect American companies from what he described as unfair treatment by the EU.
Tim Cook certainly had many topics to discuss, including the relationship with China which still produces the majority of Apple products, while awaiting the rise of its partners in India, Vietnam and others.
The waltz of the bosses
Tech executives have been flocking to Mar-a-Lago at pace. Zuckerberg met with Trump in late November, while Pichai had dinner with the president-elect on Thursday. Trump also confirmed his intention to meet Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos next week, while Elon Musk has remained very close to Trump in recent months.
Additionally, several technology companies contribute to Trump’s inauguration fund. Meta and Amazon have pledged $1 million each, while OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also committed $1 million.
When it comes to money, the political side fades away, as it often does.
