- Trump praised Apple CEO Tim Cook in a Bloomberg Businessweek interview published Tuesday.
- Trump said Cook personally contacted him in 2019 to discuss tariffs on Chinese imports.
- Trump has previously said that Cook would call him directly, unlike other CEOs.
Former President Donald Trump had some nice things to say about Apple CEO Tim Cook in a recent interview with Bloomberg Businessweek.
The interview published Tuesday took place at Mar-a-Lago in late June, before a debate that was a disaster for his opponent, President Joe Biden, and before Trump survived an assassination attempt.
During the interview, Trump recounted his interactions with Cook in 2019, when Trump announced a 25% tariff on imports from China.
After Bloomberg reported that Apple was seeking waivers for Chinese-made components used in its Mac Pro computers, Trump publicly rejected the idea.
“Apple will not be given Tariff relief, or any reduction, on Mac Pro components made in China,” Trump said in a Twitter post, now known as X. “Make it in the USA, no Tariffs!”
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Trump said he backed down after Cook contacted him directly to meet. Trump said it was “impressive” and he told Cook to come see him.
“He said to me, ‘I need help, you have 25% and 50% rates. [on Apple products imported from China],'” Trump recalled, according to Bloomberg. “He said, ‘That would really hurt our business. That would destroy our business, potentially.'”
Trump said he retaliated against Cook by pressuring Apple to manufacture in the US.
“I said, ‘I’ll do something for you,'” Trump said, “‘but you have to build in this country.'”
Representatives for Trump and Apple did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s requests for comment.
A few months later, Apple announced it would begin construction on an Austin campus, though Bloomberg notes that plans for the campus were announced a year earlier, and it is unlikely that Trump was responsible for its construction.
Cook then gave Trump a $6,000 Mac Pro.
While they maintained a good working relationship during Trump’s presidency, it wasn’t all love between the two billionaires. Cook appeared to distance himself after the January 6 Capitol riot. He called the riot “sad and disgraceful” and said he believed those responsible should be held accountable.
However, Trump has previously called Cook a “great executive because he called me and others didn’t” when there was a problem.
“The others went out and hired very expensive consultants,” Trump said in 2019, CNBC reported. “Tim Cook called Donald Trump directly.”
