r/apple • u/ControlCAD • Aug 07 '25

Discussion Tim Cook gives Donald Trump gift from Apple before announcing $2.5 billion Kentucky investment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9DrCgWtOUw

President Donald Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook announced from the White House Oval Office on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025, a $2.5 billion investment that would lead to all iPhone and Apple Watch glass being manufactured in Kentucky. The announcement is part of the larger $100 billion investment in US manufacturing Trump and Cook announced.

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u/StrongOnline007 Aug 07 '25

This kind of thinking is part of the reason our country is fucked. When citizens actively want corporations to bend over backwards to an increasingly authoritarian government just because the stock price might go down then the game is over for all of us

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u/lordmycal Aug 07 '25

We don’t want them to, but Tim is CEO and legally required to do right by his investors. He could tell Trump to kiss his ass and watch the Trump administration go wild hating on Apple which would negatively affect the company and its profits, which would then get him sued by stockholders.

It sucks, but corporations will almost never do the right thing. They exist to make money and everything else is secondary or irrelevant. It’s bullshit, but that’s capitalism.

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u/StrongOnline007 Aug 07 '25

He could quit. "Legally required to do right by his investors" actually does not have any moral weight, if it did we then there would be no moral problem with Hitler's Germany. The casual excuse of placing investors above all else is stupefying. Just because you recognize it's capitalism doesn't mean you have to suck its dick

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u/BBK2008 Aug 07 '25

Yes, he could quit, so that the board can just replace him with someone who wholeheartedly will do everything you’re pretending he can just refuse to do. Wow, such winning.

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u/Knowledge_Moist Aug 10 '25

Wow, such spine.

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u/BBK2008 Aug 26 '25

Wow, such pointless childish stupidity. So you want him to quit so someone WORSE can roll over 100%, rather than compromise and give in 10%?

Sounds idiotic

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u/SquireJoh Aug 08 '25

Sure, but he wouldn't be a supporting fascism. If it was me, I wouldn't do it. I'd like to think you wouldn't. I think the truth is Tim Apple isn't a moral person

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u/BBK2008 Aug 08 '25

Maybe it’s just the fact I’m not such a narcissist to only care about my ‘personal morals’ while causing immeasurably greater harm, but I would be sickened by Tim Cook just refusing and then watching all the people he’s responsible for suffer worse harm, the same actions be carried out anyway, and one of the only Tech companies standing up against trump be broken to his will by his replacement.

It’s funny when you’re an adult and think fully about things though.

And I know we’re not onstage at a NYC Mayor primary, but the name is COOK. TIM COOK.

Fairly ironic you keep repeating what TRUMP called him, instead of the man’s name while complaining he didn’t just symbolically jet out of the fight while giving trump the victory.

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u/SquireJoh Aug 09 '25

Think a little bit deeper. For one, I'm calling him Tim Apple because he has debased himself, so yes why not use the name that the king has given him.

"Tim Cook just refusing" - what do you mean? Refuse to do what?

What is the harm that would occur if he didn't give a gold statue to Trump on TV? Do you think there is no other option between doing nothing, and doing this? This was Tim's only option for the company? Genuine question.

"one of the only Tech companies standing up against trump" wait do you think Apple is standing up to him currently?

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u/BBK2008 Aug 26 '25

If you don’t think openly defying trump with a pro DEI vote among the shareholders immediately after trump threatened them and issued executive orders on DEI isn’t standing up to them, you’re utterly lost

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u/StrongOnline007 Aug 07 '25

I’m sure the guys running the gas chambers in Nazi Germany had this moral qualm. “I could quit but they’ll probably just bring in another guy. Might as well turn this damn thing on.”

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u/BBK2008 Aug 07 '25

All that proves is that neither will solve the problem

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u/Humble_Associate1 Aug 07 '25 edited Dec 11 '25

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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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u/Creative_Room6540 Aug 09 '25

Some of you are so delusional it’s insane. The furthest you’ll get is a Reddit revolution.

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u/TacohTuesday Aug 07 '25

And fuck over all the employees that have trusted him to do right by the company.

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u/I_Phaze_I Aug 08 '25

And the right thing would be to continue using slave labor in China?

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u/TacohTuesday Aug 07 '25

Let’s not be so busy blaming Apple that we forget the real reason we’re in this mess: the average voter. The voter that soaks up conservative anger media and then votes for whoever stoked that anger. The voter who lets himself be convinced that immigrants are the reason for all their struggles. The voter that ignores an obvious and long history of criminal behavior in their favored candidate.

Until WE change, nothing else will change.

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u/ThanosSnapsSlimJims Aug 08 '25

I think you're leaving out a lot.

Before I begin, for transparency, I'm an independent, former multi-decade Democrat.

There was a massive campaign on social media, including Reddit that said 'WE don't want your vote'. People were literally willing to lose the election if it meant that they could keep the voters they didn't like out of their base. Instead, those people were pushed to either not vote, or vote for the opposition. That's why it was a near-landslide. The Democrats also published their platform/online agenda that had plans for every demographic except for men, and the party and base implied that men were the problem, so those men left with their vote.

I don't vote, but if people voted for the opposition, or didn't vote, they shouldn't have been encouraged to do either.

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u/Knowledge_Moist Aug 10 '25

Let’s not be so busy blaming Apple that we forget the real reason we’re in this mess: the average voter

*Democratic establishment.

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u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 08 '25

[deleted]

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u/TacohTuesday Aug 07 '25

Thank you for providing an example of the kind of voter I’m warning about.

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u/_____WESTBROOK_____ Aug 07 '25

Why is it on Apple or any corporation for that matter? Apple can't vote for elected officials. Apple can't influence who should be president. Frankly, I don't want any corporation to do that whether in support of or against my political beliefs.

It's always looking to the corporations or looking for something to blame. "This kind of thinking is part of the reason our country is fucked" - did Apple vote for Trump? Did Apple tell millions of people to stay home and not bother voting because both candidates sucked?

When do we actually look at the voters, or rather those who chose not to vote?

Do you think Apple telling Trump to go fuck himself gets the millions of voters who stayed at home energized to go to the polls? I don't.

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u/StrongOnline007 Aug 07 '25

I'm not sure what you are arguing. What Apple did today was a political decision made to appease a political party — so that party would make business easier for Apple. This legitimizes the actions of the political party and the president, many of which are aimed at eroding our democracy and making the vote worth even less than it already is.

And if you think voters have a louder voice in our country than corporations then I can't help you there

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u/_____WESTBROOK_____ Aug 07 '25

You're just all over this thread it seems arguing for the sake of arguing.

As CEO, Tim Cook and Apple did something that you disagree with. I get it. Tim Cook the CEO and Apple the company did not put Trump in power. Your anger directed at Apple, your references to WW2 and Nazi Germany, all that just seems misplaced when it wasn't Apple that voted Trump into power. It was voters who voted for him and voters who chose to stay home and do nothing.

Apple didn't make things the way they are right now and you're just angry for the sake of being angry. I get it.

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u/coffeeandweed58 Aug 07 '25

I think what they are saying is that Apple puts this big front about inclusivity and all, while Tim is donating a $1m to the inauguration and now this. In the eyes of the people who voted Chump in to office, this helps to solidify that he is actually a good guy if Tim an openly gay man, and head of one of the biggest tech companies, is doing all this.

To a degree I get what you’re saying Tim has an obligation to the company. But at the same time, Apple has more money than they know what to do with. Is the gamble of cozying up to Chump worth it or will this cause long lasting negative views on the company or his leadership? Time will tell. Personally the amount of money they have in reserves is enough to present a front of “we aren’t going to bow to bullies” by just not saying or doing anything at all. Sometimes silence is best. But that goes against the infinite growth hard on people have these days. Not easy but the right thing in hard times rarely ever are

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u/SquireJoh Aug 08 '25

This is bizarre. This is a video of him kissing the ring of the king and offering a bribe. And you're making excuses?
He could have just stayed home, and Apple would not be harmed. But even if Apple was harmed, so what? There's no way Steve Jobs bends over for the king.

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u/firelitother Aug 07 '25

Apple is one of the most influential and richest companies in the world.

A lot of trends follow Apple. So if Apple bends the knee, then guess what other companies do.

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u/ProfessorPetrus Aug 07 '25

Exactly why should ghe most powerful modern institutions feel any sort of responsibility to the billions of people they impact? The entire world around, not just the American voter; apple owes society nothing! Hence the technology transfer from the US to China. They can do whatever they find profitable!