Apple CEO Tim Cook attends secret meeting with tech and government elite to plot end to Trump presi
Technology industry leaders including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google co-founder Larry Page and Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk met with top GOP representatives at the secretive American Enterprise Institute's annual World Forum this past weekend to discuss how to halt Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, a report said Monday.
According to sources familiar with the meeting, elite U.S. figures representing a swath of corporate, private and political interests attended the conference hosted at the Sea Island resort off the coast of Georgia, an event closed to the public and media, The Huffington Post reports. While other issues were discussed, the main talking point was Trump's bid for the White House.
The supposed guest list reads as a who's who of tech and government. Along with Cook, Page, Musk and Napster creator Sean Parker, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was reportedly on site with House Speaker Paul Ryan, a gaggle of Republican senators and at least one democrat in Maryland Rep. John Delaney. Prominent policy analyst Karl Rove, Deputy Chief of Staff under President George W. Bush, was also present.
The private sector was represented by billionaire Philip Anschutz and The New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger, among others.
"A specter was haunting the World Forum--the specter of Donald Trump," political commentator Bill Kristol wrote in an email from the conference, referencing Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto. "There was much unhappiness about his emergence, a good deal of talk, some of it insightful and thoughtful, about why he's done so well, and many expressions of hope that he would be defeated."
Trump infamously called called for a boycott on Apple products in February, a response to the company's resistance against helping FBI agents unlock an iPhone linked to last year's San Bernardino massacre.
The broader encryption debate was also a topic on discussion at the secretive confab, as the report claims Cook sparred with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who serves on the Senate Committee on Armed Services and Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
"Cotton was pretty harsh on Cook," a source said. "Everyone was a little uncomfortable about how hostile Cotton was."
According to sources familiar with the meeting, elite U.S. figures representing a swath of corporate, private and political interests attended the conference hosted at the Sea Island resort off the coast of Georgia, an event closed to the public and media, The Huffington Post reports. While other issues were discussed, the main talking point was Trump's bid for the White House.
The supposed guest list reads as a who's who of tech and government. Along with Cook, Page, Musk and Napster creator Sean Parker, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was reportedly on site with House Speaker Paul Ryan, a gaggle of Republican senators and at least one democrat in Maryland Rep. John Delaney. Prominent policy analyst Karl Rove, Deputy Chief of Staff under President George W. Bush, was also present.
The private sector was represented by billionaire Philip Anschutz and The New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger, among others.
"A specter was haunting the World Forum--the specter of Donald Trump," political commentator Bill Kristol wrote in an email from the conference, referencing Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto. "There was much unhappiness about his emergence, a good deal of talk, some of it insightful and thoughtful, about why he's done so well, and many expressions of hope that he would be defeated."
Trump infamously called called for a boycott on Apple products in February, a response to the company's resistance against helping FBI agents unlock an iPhone linked to last year's San Bernardino massacre.
The broader encryption debate was also a topic on discussion at the secretive confab, as the report claims Cook sparred with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who serves on the Senate Committee on Armed Services and Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
"Cotton was pretty harsh on Cook," a source said. "Everyone was a little uncomfortable about how hostile Cotton was."
Comments
Where's the secret part?
Next Tim Cook has "secret" (read ooww scary) meeting with supplier to discuss supply.
As for Trump, there's not a lot I can say that hasn't been said by a great number of people already.
Any fascist elites who believe that they have the right to dictate who the common man votes for should probably all move to North Korea, as they would fit in much better there.
I'm sure all the non-Americans watching this fiasco are laughing their a**es off. It's amazing how many laws he's breaking while forcing his freedom of speech onto so many sheep. If he was the president and said half the things he's saying right now, he'd be put in jail. If you don't know what I mean, read up on the laws against discrimination to start with.
The opinions of 100% of all non-Americans are completely irrelevant as they have zero say in OUR elections. They can all go and screw themselves. Many countries are in complete collapse, now that is hilarious! We'll see who gets the last laugh.
>ever voting for a hard right conservative that wants to take rights away from lgbt folk
Pick one.
Otherwise, Kim Jong Un will wipe California out of the face of the earth if Trump does win. Trump provoked this pig-face maniac and there'll be consequence. Never mess with a crazy dog who doesn't have anything to lose!
I really get worried about our liberties when major corporations (and I honestly don't care what their motivations are or what their politics is) try to influence social and political choices. It's hard enough for the average Joe/Jill to get his/her 0.5¢ into the political process without all this undue power and influence....
How unbecoming of Tim Cook?
They will fail anyway!
The GOP should have vetted Trump before letting run in their party.
I guess they let him run because he has money and they just figured that he would not get far.
Now that he is winning, his own party wants to gang up on him to take him out?
Take out the Donald and replace him with whom? Cruz or Rubio? What a Joke!
Tim should have no part of this.
WTF? Has the US become a 3rd world country?
If there actually were some sort of conspiracy among business leaders and the establishment GOP that would be notable since all of the business leaders cited are liberal Democrats.
in other words, this sounds like a complete fabrication.