Trump says Tim Cook complained to him about the EU

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Former President Trump claims that Apple CEO Tim Cook phoned him recently to complain about the billions of dollars that the EU has fined the company.

Apple CEO Tim Cook
Apple CEO Tim Cook



The former president has previously referred to Cook as "Tim Apple," and in March 2024 said Apple should unlock shooters' iPhones because of "foreign apps." But now he says that Cook phoned him at some point after the news broke that the EU had ruled Apple should pay Ireland $14 billion in back taxes.

"Two hours ago, three hours ago, he [Cook] called me," Trump said on the PBD Podcast. "He said the European Union has just fined us $15 billion... Then on top of that, they got fined by the European Union another $2 billion."

The PBD Podcast episode was published on October 17, 2024, but it is not clear when it was recorded. Also, Apple wasn't newly out the cash, as it had been sitting in escrow for years.

As first spotted by The Verge, Trump wasn't very clear about the call. "He [Cook] said something that was interesting," said Trump. "He said they're using that to run their enterprise, meaning Europe is their enterprise."

However, Trump was clearer about what he thinks of the EU's fine. He intends to either do something about it, or prevent similar fines in the future.

"I said, 'That's a lot... But Tim, I got to get elected first, but I'm not going to let them take advantage of our companies -- that won't, you know, be happening,'" Trump continued.

It does not appear that Trump did anything about the fine during his time as president. The funds to pay the fine were put in escrow in 2018, and there is not a statement on record from him about it from that time.

It's previously been reported that Tim Cook had repeatedly lobbied Trump on Apple's behalf. That was during the Trump administration, however, and during President Biden's term, various Apple executives visited the White House some 87 times.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 58
    danielitodanielito Posts: 8member
    Sure, Donny, that happened.
    mark fearingToortogssfe11gregoriusmOferdanoxspheric12StrangersIreneWhammeroftruth
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  • Reply 2 of 58
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,546member
    Trump does not know how to respect privacy when it comes to geopolitical economic decisions. 
    mark fearingssfe11Oferspheric12Strangersdarbus699secondkox2Bart Ywatto_cobra
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  • Reply 3 of 58
    DAalsethdaalseth Posts: 3,251member
    danielito said:
    Sure, Donny, that happened.
    That was my first thought, Why believe him at all?. 
    mark fearingxyzzy-xxxssfe11gregoriusmOferspheric12Strangersdarbus69williamlondonAlex_V
     15Likes 0Dislikes 1Informative
  • Reply 4 of 58
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,751member
    DAalseth said:
    danielito said:
    Sure, Donny, that happened.
    That was my first thought, Why believe him at all?. 
    I think it could be mostly true. CEOs are kind of like dictators so dealing with real dictators is often more comfortable for them than dealing with democratic governments, even if they might not like the dictator personally or agree with all of their policies. 
    Oferdarbus69williamlondonmarklarkwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 5 of 58
    delreyjonesdelreyjones Posts: 337member

    DAalseth said:
    I think it could be mostly true. CEOs are kind of like dictators so dealing with real dictators is often more comfortable for them than dealing with democratic governments, even if they might not like the dictator personally or agree with all of their policies. 
    Sure, you can speculate anyway you like.  But since Trump is such a confirmed liar, there's no credible evidence that it happened.
    ssfe11thtOferNickoTTdanoxspheric12Strangersdarbus69williamlondonAlex_V
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  • Reply 6 of 58
    mark fearingmark fearing Posts: 448member
    I really doubt that...Tim may as well reach out to me to complain about it. While there is a legit issue here, Trump inserting himself into it now is ridiculous. 
    ssfe11Oferdanoxspheric12Strangerswilliamlondonjeffharris9secondkox2Bart Ybaconstang
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  • Reply 7 of 58
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,751member
    delreyjones said:

    DAalseth said:
    I think it could be mostly true. CEOs are kind of like dictators so dealing with real dictators is often more comfortable for them than dealing with democratic governments, even if they might not like the dictator personally or agree with all of their policies. 
    Sure, you can speculate anyway you like.  But since Trump is such a confirmed liar, there's no credible evidence that it happened.
    It’s implausible to me that Trump would have known about the issues if he hadn’t talked to Cook. I also find it very believable that the CEO of a major company like Apple would talk to both party’s nominees.

    i like Apple and Cook, but I think you guys are kidding yourselves. 
    OferchasmwilliamlondonThatguy29secondkox2marklarkwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 8 of 58
    OctoMonkeyoctomonkey Posts: 351member
    delreyjones said:

    DAalseth said:
    I think it could be mostly true. CEOs are kind of like dictators so dealing with real dictators is often more comfortable for them than dealing with democratic governments, even if they might not like the dictator personally or agree with all of their policies. 
    Sure, you can speculate anyway you like.  But since Trump is such a confirmed liar, there's no credible evidence that it happened.
    Confirmed liar...  So he has now officially joined the ranks of the political class.
    xyzzy-xxx12Strangersdarbus699secondkox2timpetusibillwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 9 of 58
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,266member
    netrox said:
    Trump does not know how to respect privacy when it comes to geopolitical economic decisions. 
    Or when it comes to the range of our nuclear submarines.
    xyzzy-xxxOferspheric12Strangersdarbus69xyzzy019secondkox2baconstangwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 10 of 58
    CLS9cls9 Posts: 13member
    No way did this happen. Any of it.
    xyzzy-xxxssfe11Oferspheric12Strangerswilliamlondonjeffharrisxyzzy019secondkox2Bart Y
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  • Reply 11 of 58
    apple4thewinapple4thewin Posts: 422member
    Isn’t this the same person who got charged with 34 felonies for hush money problems and committed tax fraud (And 3 other cases currently in court)? why should I believe him?
    xyzzy-xxxssfe11Oferspheric12Strangersdarbus69williamlondonAlex_Vjeffharrisxyzzy01
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  • Reply 12 of 58
    xyzzy-xxxxyzzy-xxx Posts: 214member
    I hope this did not happen !
    Oferdavidlewis549secondkox2watto_cobra
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  • Reply 13 of 58
    danoxdanox Posts: 3,664member

    DAalseth said:
    I think it could be mostly true. CEOs are kind of like dictators so dealing with real dictators is often more comfortable for them than dealing with democratic governments, even if they might not like the dictator personally or agree with all of their policies. 
    Sure, you can speculate anyway you like.  But since Trump is such a confirmed liar, there's no credible evidence that it happened.
    Confirmed liar...  So he has now officially joined the ranks of the political class.
    Except how many others are convicted felons, and a liar he stands alone…..
    edited October 2024
    sphericjeffharris9secondkox2Bart Ywatto_cobra
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  • Reply 14 of 58
    danoxdanox Posts: 3,664member

    xyzzy-xxx said:
    I hope this did not happen !
    Jamie Dimon and Chase had to put down a lie that Trump told….. A business loser like Trump needs to associate with those that are better than him.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2024/10/04/jpmorgans-billionaire-ceo-didnt-endorse-trump-despite-trump-saying-he-did/

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/04/us/politics/trump-dimon-false-endorsement.html
    12StrangerswilliamlondonAlex_Vxyzzy019secondkox2ilarynxBart Ybaconstangwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 15 of 58
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,743member
    Sure, Gramps. Tim Apple called you; that's nice. 

    And he complained about having to pay back taxes — I'm not surprised you'd call that a "fine", given your convictions. 

    Those terrible people. 

    Come on — are you sure this Tim Apple fellow called you, or did you just get off the phone with Carlson or Sean again, hm? 

    Now drink your lemonade, Sister Margot has some chicken nuggets for you, if you keep your hands to yourself.
    12Strangersdarbus69williamlondonmuthuk_vanalingamAlex_Vjeffharrisapple4thewin9secondkox2ilarynxBart Y
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  • Reply 16 of 58
    darbus69darbus69 Posts: 87member
    🥹🥹🥹

    spheric said:
    Sure, Gramps. Tim Apple called you; that's nice. 

    And he complained about having to pay back taxes — I'm not surprised you'd call that a "fine", given your convictions. 

    Those terrible people. 

    Come on — are you sure this Tim Apple fellow called you, or did you just get off the phone with Carlson or Sean again, hm? 

    Now drink your lemonade, Sister Margot has some chicken nuggets for you, if you keep your hands to yourself.

    williamlondon9secondkox2
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  • Reply 17 of 58
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,719member
    It’s certainly possible that Tim Cook has been speaking to leading politicians from both parties about the impositions of the EU. This particular utterance from The Constant Lie feels plausible.

    That said, I’m *sure* Tim is *thrilled* to know that things said to a certain Orange-otang in a private phone call will be blabbed publicly. I’m sure Tim’s next call to him (if there is another one) will be along the lines of

    Chump: Hi Tim! What’s on your mind?
    Tim: Oh, hi, just wanted to tell you confidentially that Apple products are really great, especially the new [new thing]. Just terrific. Really, really great. Talk to you later!
    muthuk_vanalingamjeffharris9secondkox2Bart Ywatto_cobra
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  • Reply 18 of 58
    hammeroftruthhammeroftruth Posts: 1,381member
    blastdoor said:
    delreyjones said:

    DAalseth said:
    I think it could be mostly true. CEOs are kind of like dictators so dealing with real dictators is often more comfortable for them than dealing with democratic governments, even if they might not like the dictator personally or agree with all of their policies. 
    Sure, you can speculate anyway you like.  But since Trump is such a confirmed liar, there's no credible evidence that it happened.
    It’s implausible to me that Trump would have known about the issues if he hadn’t talked to Cook. I also find it very believable that the CEO of a major company like Apple would talk to both party’s nominees.

    i like Apple and Cook, but I think you guys are kidding yourselves. 
    If that is true, then how did Appleinsider uncover it when it happened? Maybe because it was news, big news. We found out thanks to this site how the EU acquiesced to Epic and Spotify’s claim of abuse and decided to fine Apple. Maybe DJT just found out about it and spun this old man’s whopper tale that a CEO would call a FORMER president or if he was still president when it happened, then why didn't he do anything or say anything about it then?
    Pure 🐎💩. 
    williamlondon9secondkox2Bart Ybaconstangwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 19 of 58
    NYC362nyc362 Posts: 109member
    As the rather secretive CEO of a company that values its secrets more than anything else, I find it really hard to believe that Tim Cook called a person known for blabbering about anything and everything to complain about the EU.

    If anyone here has ever worked for Apple, you'll know exactly how I feel.  It just isn't in the Apple DNA for something like this to have happened.

    If it did, it is shocking.  
    williamlondon9secondkox2Bart Ybaconstangwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 20 of 58
    antitrustclassactionantitrustclassaction Posts: 2member
    This happened. But the story is missed, it's about antitrust and Apple's monopoly more than the Ireland tax scheme.  EU DMA is what they're worried about, and of course, the Khan FTC's domestic antitrust lawsuit. Cook wants Trump to stop global enforcement of antitrust laws, by tricking him into thinking he's fighting for fair tax treatment.
    edited October 2024
    9secondkox2
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