President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview that Apple CEO Tim Cook called him. Microsoft’s Bill Gates also had a “great conversation” over the phone with the President-elect.
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“I was honored yesterday, I got a call from Bill Gates, great call, we had a great conversation,” Trump told The New York Times, without detailing the “great call.”
“I got a call from Tim Cook at Apple, and I said, ‘Tim, you know one of the things that will be a real achievement for me is when I get Apple to build a big plant in the United States, or many big plants in the United States, where instead of going to China, and going to Vietnam, and going to the places that you go to, you’re making your product right here.’ He said, ‘I understand that.’ I said: ‘I think we’ll create the incentives for you, and I think you’re going to do it. We’re going for a very large tax cut for corporations, which you’ll be happy about.’
Earlier this year, Trump called for a boycott of Apple, after the Cupertino-based company refused to decrypt the San Bernardino iPhone. iPhone encryption might continue to be a major area of contention between the US government and Apple, particularly under President Trump.
Trump also said that he’d force Apple to start manufacturing its products including the iPhone in America if he gets elected. That might be a far-fetched thought, but Apple has reportedly considered the idea of manufacturing iPhones in the America.
As for Cook, the Apple CEO supported Hillary Clinton during the election and even hosted a fundraiser for her. After the election, Cook sent out a memo to all Apple staff that included several remarks that stressed the importance of diversity and inclusion inside Apple.
Trump’s full interview with the Times is available at this link.
