Trump claims Tim Cook called him about EU fining Apple $17 billion

Tim Cook’s job as CEO covers a number of roles and responsibilities. One of them involves maintaining relationships with political powers. And according to Donald Trump, he and Cook recently had a conversation about the EU’s recent rulings against Apple.

Trump’s podcast appearance discussed economy and Cook relationship

Trump appeared on the latest episode of the PBD (Patrick Bet-David) podcast, which posted today on YouTube. (via The Verge)

In the wide-ranging conversation about various political issues, Bet-David and Trump get on the topic of the economy. During which Trump shares that he had just talked to Apple’s Tim Cook “two hours ago, three hours ago.”

The subject of the conversation was the EU’s recent rulings against Apple, and their hefty price tags.

Trump recalls Cook saying, “I’d like to talk to you about something. The European Union has just fined us $15 billion.”

Trump responds to Cook, “That’s a lot.” Then continues to the interviewer, Bet-David, “Then on top of that they got fined by the EU another $2 billion, so it’s a $17-18 billion fine…[Cook] said something that’s interesting. He said, ‘They’re using that to run their enterprise.’ Meaning Europe, their enterprise.”

Trump says he told Cook, “I’ve got to get elected first. But I’m not going to let them take advantage of our companies.”

Apple’s history with the EU and political powers

The EU fines Trump referenced involve a few different matters. The largest being the recent ruling on Apple’s Irish tax case which comes with a €13B price tag.

Separate fines relate to Apple’s role in “thwarting fair competition from music-streaming rivals”, and potential fines still on the way related to Apple’s DMA compliance.

It’s very possible Cook has had similar conversations with Kamala Harris, but that hasn’t been reported yet.

In any case, as we have seen during current and previous U.S. administrations, Cook has sought to represent Apple’s best interests with whoever is in power at any given time. Which I suppose is the nature of a modern CEO’s role at a company like Apple.

Also in the past, Cook has emphasized that he feels it’s better to be involved in conversations than sit on the sidelines. “You don’t change things by just yelling,” he said in 2016. “You change things by showing everyone why your way is the best.”