WEST PALM BEACH, FL (AP) — A person with knowledge of the situation who was not permitted to speak publicly said that Donald Trump invited Apple CEO Tim Cook to join him for dinner on Friday night at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago club.
Cook is the most recent in a line of prominent tech executives who have attempted to strengthen their relationship with the new president following tense interactions with Trump during his first term, such as Sam Altman of OpenAI, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.
Trump claims to have discussed the company’s protracted tax disputes with the EU with Cook.
The meeting takes place less than two months after Trump claimed to have had a phone conversation with Cook and shortly after Apple lost its final appeal in a dispute with the EU over back taxes to Ireland totaling 13 billion euros ($14.34 billion).
In an October interview with podcaster Patrick Bet-David, Trump recalled his meeting with Cook and added, “The European Union has just fined us $15 billion.” Additionally, the European Union punished them an additional $2 billion.
President-elect Donald Trump listens during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Image: Alex Brandon/Associated Press
The EU highest court’s ruling was the culmination of a debate that focused on sweetheart deals Dublin was making to entice multinational corporations with low tax rates throughout the 27-nation union. In 2016, the European Commission declared that Ireland had illegally given Apple help that Ireland needed to repay.
A request for comment regarding Trump’s dinner with Cook was not immediately answered by Apple or his transition staff.
Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, announced Friday that he intends to personally donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. This Monday, it was announced that Amazon and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, had each contributed $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.
Trump attacked Bezos’s company, Amazon, and the political coverage at The Washington Post during his first term. Bezos, however, has taken issue with some of Trump’s earlier statements. Amazon further contended in a 2019 lawsuit that Trump’s prejudice against the business hurt its prospects of landing a $10 billion Pentagon contract.
Bezos has adopted a more accommodative stance in more recent times. He endorsed the president-elect’s intentions to reduce regulations and expressed optimism about Trump’s second term last week at The New York Times DealBook Summit in New York.
Only a few weeks after Meta CEO Zuckerberg had a private meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Meta made the donation.
Zuckerberg expressed a more favorable opinion of Trump during the 2024 campaign, but he did not support any presidential contender. He commended Trump’s response to his initial assassination attempt earlier this year.
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