Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, is scheduled to visit Mar-a-Lago on Friday evening for dinner with President-elect Donald Trump, as reported by The New York Times. Cook is the latest in a series of tech executives to visit Trump’s Florida estate in recent weeks.
According to The New York Times:
Mr. Cook and Mr. Trump are expected to dine on the patio at Mar-a-Lago later on Friday evening, according to two sources familiar with the meeting. The rapport between Cook and Trump was notably more amicable during Trump’s first term compared to Trump’s interactions with other tech leaders, such as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai, both of whom have also met Trump recently.
This will be Cook’s first encounter with Trump since last month’s election. Cook had previously met with Trump several times, receiving commendations during Trump’s first term. Other tech leaders are said to be following similar approaches in relation to Trump’s second term.
In a conversation in October, Cook discussed Apple’s ongoing challenges within the European Union with Trump, who assured him he would protect American businesses from EU exploitation if he were to be elected.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, visited Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump at the end of November, while Sundar Pichai of Google met with Trump on Thursday. Trump has also announced an upcoming meeting with Jeff Bezos of Amazon next week. Over the past few months, Trump and Elon Musk have maintained a close relationship.
Beyond private dinners, tech firms are also contributing to Trump’s inauguration fund, with both Meta and Amazon pledging $1 million each. Sam Altman from OpenAI is also making a $1 million contribution.
Follow Chance: Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, and Mastodon.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
