{"id":66855,"date":"2025-08-08T05:14:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T05:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/66855\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T05:14:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T05:14:13","slug":"apple-ceo-tim-cooks-100-billion-commitment-to-u-s-manufacturing-came-with-a-gift-for-trump-a-glass-made-in-usa-plaque-mounted-on-24-karat-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/66855\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple CEO Tim Cook\u2019s $100 billion commitment to U.S. manufacturing came with a gift for Trump: a glass ‘Made in USA’ plaque mounted on 24-karat gold"},"content":{"rendered":"

As if a $100 billion promise to invest in U.S. manufacturing wasn\u2019t enough, Apple CEO Tim Cook gave President Donald Trump another token of commitment: a customized glass plaque<\/a> mounted on a 24-karat gold stand. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a unique unit of one,\u201d Cook said. After Cook pointed out during his Oval Office visit that the gift box was made in California, that the engraved glass was designed by a former Marine Corps corporal who works at Apple, and that the gold base came from Utah, Trump responded, \u201cThank you very much, it\u2019s fantastic.\u201d The price of gold is $3,383 per ounce<\/a> as of Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the Oval Office on Wednesday, Cook announced Apple\u2019s plans to accelerate domestic manufacturing<\/a>, pouring $100 billion into the \u201cAmerican Manufacturing Program\u201d, which will expand Apple\u2019s 18-year-old partnership<\/a> with Corning<\/a>, a New York-based company that produces the glass for iPhone and iWatch screens. The massive cash infusion brings the tech giant\u2019s total commitment to domestic production to $600 billion over the next four years, following Apple\u2019s $500 billion investment announcement<\/a> in February.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Apple\u2019s announcement comes as Trump plans to impose a 100% tariff<\/a> on semiconductor chips, hiking prices for electronics, cars, appliances, and other technology using the chips. With its renewed vigor for U.S. manufacturing, Apple effectively dodges the tax.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re building in the United States of America, there\u2019s no charge,\u201d Trump said in the meeting with the press and Cook, where he also announced the chips tariff.<\/p>\n

Trump has heaped pressure on U.S. tech companies to shift production domestically\u2014despite analysts\u2019 warnings<\/a> that it\u2019s neither cost-efficient nor logistically practical to do so. Even U.S. manufacturing darling Corning has a Chinese subsidiary<\/a> providing optical fiber for the regional market. In May, Trump threatened a 25% tariff on Apple<\/a> if it didn\u2019t cut ties with overseas manufacturers in India and elsewhere. Last month, Cook forecasted a $1.1 billion hit<\/a> from the tariffs in the coming quarter as it continues to lean on its production in China and India.<\/p>\n

Apple did not respond to Fortune\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

Cook and Trump\u2019s courtship<\/p>\n

Cook has a long history of working with Trump<\/a>, gaining the title of \u201cTrump Whisperer<\/a>\u201d for his ability to make compromises around tax cuts and manufacturing commitments.<\/p>\n

According to Joseph Badaracco<\/a>, John Shad Professor of Business Ethics at the Harvard School of Business, Cook\u2019s gift to Trump not only aligns with his ethos of keeping things copacetic with the president, but also continuing to set Apple apart from its tech rivals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president has now gotten a long series of these giant commitments to manufacturing in the U.S. from a lot of other countries and a lot of companies,\u201d Badaracco told Fortune. \u201cSo this is the way of making the Apple commitment stand out a little more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody would describe it as ethically noble, but it was just a small gesture underscoring the Apple commitment,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

In April, Nvidia<\/a> pledged $500 billion<\/a> to manufacture AI gear in the U.S., following pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly<\/a>, which announced plans to double<\/a> its U.S. manufacturing investment to $50 billion. While Cook\u2019s gift to Trump will likely be quickly forgotten, Badaracco posited, other executives may look at Apple as the precedent to navigating policy uncertainty.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re running a company dealing with the Trump administration, you\u2019ve got sort of a collapse of the old checks and balances: Congress has the courts moving slowly, and in the interim, you\u2019ve got a president who\u2019s acting, by many accounts, arbitrarily,\u201d Badaracco said. \u201cSo you\u2019ve got to do what you can in circumstances like that.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Introducing the 2025 Fortune Global 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in the world. Explore this year’s list.<\/a>