How Tim Cook Cracked The Code On Working With Trump

For years, through carefully choreographed dinners and meetings, Apple CEO Tim Cook did something that has eluded many other corporate leaders: He developed a personal relationship with President-elect Donald Trump.

- Chip Cutter & Aaron Tilley

Their rapport has been built, in part, by zeroing in on areas of mutual interest between Apple and Trump's agenda.

Now, with Trump's cabinet taking shape and new circles of power emerging in Washington, executives across the corporate sphere are working to get in the good graces of the new administration. Plenty hope to follow Cook's playbook.

In the first Trump administration, the Apple executive pioneered a template for how business leaders should engage with Trump. Instead of sending government relations executives or lobbyists, Cook would appeal to Trump directly through phone calls and meals, said people familiar with the interactions.

Cook then developed a meeting strategy with Trump where he would bring one data point to home in on a single issue in a meeting, the people said. That approach helped keep the meetings from spiraling in too many directions.

Big win on tariffs

In 2017, as Trump was working on a tax-cut plan, Cook told the then-president that Apple would increase its U.S. investments if the company could repatriate $250 billion in overseas cash at a reduced tax rate. Trump would later cite Apple while promoting his tax plan.

Cook's biggest win took place in 2019 when Apple was facing down a potential 10% tariff on all imports from China, where Apple still overwhelmingly produces its devices. Cook personally lobbied Trump, explaining how tariffs would increase iPhone prices and help foreign rivals like Samsung. Days later, the Trump administration announced it would scale back its tariff plan, giving exceptions to a range of electronics, including the iPhone.

Apple then reversed an earlier decision to move production of its Mac Pro computer to China from Austin, Texas.