Apple Caves To Trump In Huge Win For ‘America First’

Apple CEO Tim Cook, seeking to stave off a new round of punishing tariffs, handed President Donald Trump another economic win on Thursday.

Cook, who heads one of the world’s three most valuable companies, pledged an additional $100 billion domestic investment in supply chain and advanced manufacturing, delivering Trump a second deal to show that his economic strategy is returning overseas jobs to the U.S. The move includes promises by the company to purchase more parts for its signature iPhone from U.S. manufacturers.

News of the deal was made by Trump and Cook as they stood together in the Oval Office. There, Cook handed the president a 24-karat golf gift and praised his focus on domestic employment, saying Apple shares the same goal in principle.

A new Apple initiative, dubbed the American Manufacturing Program, will focus on bringing more advanced manufacturing jobs and supply chain compilation back to the U.S., Cook told reporters.

The president “asked us to think about what more we could commit to doing,” Cook said at the White House, “and Mr. President, we took that challenge very seriously.”

Cook took over as CEO of Apple in 2011 following the death of Steve Jobs, the company’s visionary founder. He is navigating the sharpest U.S. crackdown on its business practices in years as he works to avoid tariffs on iPhones while not yet making good on his promise to manufacture them back home.

Apple earlier this year said it plans to spend a total of $500 billion and hire 20,000 U.S. workers over the next four years as it expands its footprint into machine learning and artificial intelligence. Cook made similar, smaller pledges during the Biden administration, but his renewed focus demonstrates that he is eager to avoid Trump’s promised 25% tariffs on iPhones, a policy that would, in all likelihood, sharply raise the price for consumers.

At a press conference, Cook promised Apple would pursue an “end-to-end semiconductor supply chain” in the U.S. by working with partners like Broadcom, Amko, and others.

“We’ve already signed new agreements with 10 companies across America,” he said, pointing to a deal to become Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s “first and largest customer” in Arizona.

Apple’s suppliers are on track to make 19 million silicon chips in the U.S., Cook added.

Trump, speaking next, emphasized that he is giving Apple the chance to avoid 100% tariffs on foreign semiconductors as long as the company continues to move forward with its pledge.

“If you’re building, there will be no charge,” Mr. Trump said.

Cook also said that iPhones will soon come with glass screens made by a manufacturer in Kentucky, the NYT reported.

“For the first time ever, every single new iPhone and every single new Apple Watch sold anywhere in the world will contain cover glass made in Kentucky,” he said.