Trump may have added 25% iPhone tariff specifically to punish Tim Cook

AppleInsider

The extra tariff added to all iPhones imported in the US may not have been about bringing manufacturing back to the US, but specifically to reprimand Tim Cook for skipping a Trump event.

Tim Cook (left) with Donald Trump in a previous meeting -- image credit: CNBC

On May 23, 2025, Trump announced that Apple would have to pay a 25% tariff on every iPhone imported into the US. AppleInsider noted at the time that it was unusual for Trump to acknowledge that US business would have to pay the fee, instead of inaccurately claiming that foreign countries would.

Now according to the New York Times, there appears to have been a reason for Apple being singled out. From May 13 to May 16, Trump was visiting the Middle East and bringing with him representatives of many US companies.

Apple was not in attendance.

Tump complains about Apple

Two unnamed sources say that Tim Cook declined Trump's invitation to join the trip, and this is said to have irritated the president. What is certain is that Trump repeatedly referred to to Cook's absence during the trip

"I mean, Tim Cook isn't here, but you are," Trump commented to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

That was at a Trump event also attended by OpenAI's Sam Altman. Executives from AMD, BlackRock, and Citigroup were also in attendance.

It was during the trip when he was in Qatar, that Trump said he "had a little problem with Tim Cook." Then it was following the trip that Trump announced the 25% tariff on iPhones, saying it was because Apple wasn't making the devices in the US.

Trump's announcement of the new tariff on his Truth Social platform reportedly surprised his own administration as much as it did Apple. There were of course no details, but subsequently, Trump announced that the tariff would start in June.

With the iPhone 17 launch happening in September, Apple will not be able to repeat its previously successful moves to beat tariff deadlines. Ahead of the "reciprocal" tariffs announced in April, Apple accelerated iPhone manufacture and airlifted extra devices into the US.

Apple managed to get an exemption from the "reciprocal" tariffs, although Trump later revised that to be a temporary measure. There is also a spurious national security investigation into semiconductors, whose conclusion has been prejudged by the White House and will mean further tariffs.

It's not remotely clear whether the new 25% tariff will come entirely on top of whatever other tariffs are introduced or reintroduced. Apple has previously said that it expects to pay out $900 million in tariffs in its current June quarter, but that presupposed there would be no further tariffs.

Apple's deteriorating relationship with Trump

Apple has not commented on either the tariffs or the New York Times report.

Whether or not the tariff was introduced solely as a punishment for Tim Cook, it is part of a significant change in Trump's relationship with Apple. Cook has been both praised and criticized for how he has worked to keep that relationship going and gain Apple exemptions, including donating $1 million of his own money to Trump's inauguration.

Recently, however, Cook also declined an invitation to attend a White House technology summit in person, although he did appear in video by satellite.



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charlesn

Yeah, Tim was kinda busy figuring out how the hell he's going to manufacture and price products that deliver 3 months from now in the midst of this a-hole malignant narcissist's on again, off again, changed again, whim-of-the-minute tariff insanity. Nothing says "America First" like a serial bankruptcy artist punishing one of the greatest American business success stories ever. It is only "Trump First," always and forever. The problem right now is that none of the damage from this lunacy is visible to Americans... YET. No inflation uptick. No increase in unemployment. No small American businesses going bust. So the kind of idiots who think foreign countries pay our tariffs and send checks to the treasury are sitting around thinking, "See? It's all working!" The punishment from this stupidity can't get here soon enough. 

edited May 26

davidlewis54

I’m very pleased if Tim Cook didn’t just jump when Trump called him to.  Too many leaders around the world just do what Trump asks and usually get rudeness as part of the conversation.  He is a president dealing with other presidents so they are at the same level.

I’m certain TC has better things to do than whatever bit of new nonsense Trump has thrown about.

Trump only does chaos: confuse your message and you confuse the other party of your deal which means in the ensuing chaos they will probably do what you want.

Trump only does deals to suit himself, not the US or anyone else.  I’d love to know how much he’s made out of the rises and falls in the stock market with his flip-flop tariff game. Definitely insider trading. 

What is it with suddenly expecting ‘respect’ for whatever the US/Trump has done?  You get respect by earning it, not demanding it. 

Tim, you do your thing, running, arguably, the most successful company ever, and leave Trump to his own thing of the moment.

decoderring

Could we just stop with these useless articles — everyone will be better off not constantly seeing articles about a mercurial individual whose only goal in life is to twist everyone’s undies in a bundle for his own ego gratification.

foregoneconclusion

More proof that the President levying tariffs under the IEEPA is illegal. Not only is there no mention of tariffs or taxes in the language of the IEEPA, but there is also no mention of targeting domestic companies. The IEEPA was intended to be used for sanctioning foreign governments only. 

edgecrusherr

Oh look, the corrupt narcissist just turned on you. I didn’t see that coming. 

wesley_hilliard

decoderring said:

Could we just stop with these useless articles — everyone will be better off not constantly seeing articles about a mercurial individual whose only goal in life is to twist everyone’s undies in a bundle for his own ego gratification.

Sadly, it is news even if we are all tired of seeing it. Believe me, we're tired of reporting it.

anonymouse

decoderring said:

Could we just stop with these useless articles — everyone will be better off not constantly seeing articles about a mercurial individual whose only goal in life is to twist everyone’s undies in a bundle for his own ego gratification.

No, we can't and ought not stop reporting on the madness of the king. Ignoring it isn't going to make anything better and the public need to know why things are more expensive — for example, iPhones may be more expensive because Trump was in a bad mood one day — so that they can come to their senses and get this party out of power before the US (and global) economy and democracy is permanently destroyed. We may be stuck with a mad king till 2029, but in 2026 there's an opportunity to wrest power away from him and stop further damage. People need to be reminded every single day of why things are and will be getting worse.

mark fearing

If that's true the tariff won't stand up in Court. You can't tariff people you don't like. The Constitution has a thing about Equal treatment. 

phoenix1386

Greatest country in the history of the planet.

xed

mark fearing said:

If that's true the tariff won't stand up in Court. You can't tariff people you don't like. The Constitution has a thing about Equal treatment. 

It will if the tyrants control the courts.

ssfe11

Everyone is sick of Trump. Even diehard maga morons have gone radio silent on FB and they posted Trump support for numerous times a day since 2016. This malignant narcissist is out of control. I’m a registered republican saying vote democrat across the board to neutralize this nutjob president. 

anthogag

It’s the “25% if you don’t kiss my ring” tariff/tax

cheesefreeze

That corrupt-to-the-bone man child needs to spend the rest of his days in jail, and with him many more of his family members and allies. America is a mess.

cheesefreeze

mark fearing said:

If that's true the tariff won't stand up in Court. You can't tariff people you don't like. The Constitution has a thing about Equal treatment. 

If one thing has been proven is that the US has very weak filters in place to keep a democracy, a democracy. I fear at some point a civil war may be the only option for true and lasting change. God forbid that ever happens. 

mattinoz

CheeseFreeze said:

That corrupt-to-the-bone man child needs to spend the rest of his days in jail, and with him many more of his family members and allies. America is a mess.

True but he’ll get out of it due to his illness 

carmb

If one didn't know better, it would seem that Donald Trump is not knowledgable regarding anything. He doesn't know how stuff works and so he posts nonsense. In his first term his silliness was tempered but in his second term, we're getting the uncensured, unfettered Trump. There were moments in that first term when we kind of got a glimpse - bleach could maybe cure COVID, right?  - yet there was this false narrative that Trump is much smarter than he looks. I suspect that it's less that Trump is incapable of gaining insight into how everything works and more that he can't be bothered to find out. Reality can be bent to his will, it seems, so why bother figuring stuff out. Just declare what you want reality to be and make it so through sheer force of will. So we ge the Ukraine conflict resolved in 24 hours. Gaza is transformed into a resort. Canada becomes the 51st state. Threats of tariffs causes those wanting to do business in the US to obey Trump's commands. Taxes are slashed with no impact on services and the deficit is miraculously wiped out, all while dramatically increasing military spending. Utter nonsense, all of it. And it just keeps on coming. How did we get here? 

ilarynx

CheeseFreeze said:

mark fearing said:

If that's true the tariff won't stand up in Court. You can't tariff people you don't like. The Constitution has a thing about Equal treatment. 

If one thing has been proven is that the US has very weak filters in place to keep a democracy, a democracy. I fear at some point a civil war may be the only option for true and lasting change. God forbid that ever happens. 

God didn't forbid civil war to happen in the 1800s, is there a reason to expect a change of "mind" on such things today? 

zone

I am hoping "God" does his thing and make the orange man go away. We would all be better off. Vance is a moron but he not AS CRAZY as Trump is. JD does not have the corruption temperament that Trump does going from a poor city like Middletown Ohio. He just a poor WT with no world domination aspirations.

sitime

Tim Apple, this is the life you choose. Did you really think your “donation” would be a one time thing? Oh, you sweet summer child. It was never enough then, it is never enough now, and it will never be enough in the future.

If Trump tells you to “Jump”, you need to reply (with tears in your eyes) “How high, sir?”. 

Ask Jensen Huang for some advice. Jensen knows how the strongman-authoritarian game is played. He knows how to play the game in China. And he knows how to play the game in 2025’s America. You won’t see Jensen making such rookie mistakes. Jensen showed up with Trump on the trip and heaped tons of praise on Trump. He knows what’s up.

Just say “Siri, call Jensen”. And after Siri replies with “I found some web results…”, go into your Contacts app and call him that way.

ssfe11

“Punish Cook?!” How in the world did this worst of its kind human being become President of the US? Even before his first term doesn’t decency count for anything? He was a horrible human being before 2016 doesn’t that count the most? If you voted for Trump in 2024 you are as bad a human being as he is.