Cook's bad year keeps getting worse

For Tim Cook, the hits keep coming. On Friday, President Trump targeted Apple with new demands that the company make iPhones in the U.S., threatening 25% tariffs if the company doesn't comply.

- Rolfe Winkler

For Tim Cook, the hits keep coming. On Friday, President Trump targeted Apple with new demands that the company make iPhones in the U.S., threatening 25% tariffs if the company doesn't comply. "Rise and shine Tim Cook," Trump whisperer Laura Loomer posted on X, reminding the Apple CEO he is at the center of the president's trade bull's-eye.

That is just one of the threats Cook has confronted in what has appeared to be a no good, very bad year for Apple. Aside from Trump, Cook is facing off against two U.S. judges, European and worldwide regulators, state and federal lawmakers, and even a creator of the iPhone, to say nothing of the cast of rivals outrunning Apple in artificial intelligence.

Each is a threat to Apple's hefty profit margins, long the company's trademark and the reason investors drove its valuation above $3 trillion before any other company. Shareholders are still Cook's most important constituency. The stock's 25% fall from its peak shows their concern about whether he—or anyone—can navigate the choppy 2025 waters.

What can be said for Apple is that the company is patient, and that has often paid off in the past.