President Donald Trump said his first interaction with outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook came during his first term when the tech mogul called to get his help with a &#8220;fairly large problem.&#8221;
“I have always been a big fan of Tim Cook, and likewise, Steve Jobs, but if Steve was not taken from the Planet Earth so young, and ran the company instead of Tim, the company would have done well, but nowhere near as well as it has under Tim,” Trump said in a lengthy Truth Social post on Tuesday.
The post came a day after Apple announced that Cook would be leaving the company in September after 15 years leading it. Trump said Cook called him at the beginning of his first term asking for his help with a problem.
“He had a fairly large problem that only I, as President, could fix. Most people would have paid millions of dollars to a consultant, who I probably would not have known, but who would say that he knew me well,” Trump said. “The fees would be paid but the job would not have gotten done. When I got the call I said, wow, it’s Tim Apple (Cook!) calling, how big is that? I was very impressed with myself to have the head of Apple calling to ‘kiss my ass.’”
Trump said he thought that Cook was right and got the problem “taken care” of “quickly and effectively.”
“That was the beginning of a long and very nice relationship. During my five years as President, Tim would call me, but never too much, and I would help him where I could,” Trump said, saying he helped Cook three or four times with big issues.
“He makes these calls to me, I help him out (but not always, because he will, on occasion, be too aggressive in his ask!), and he gets the job done, QUICKLY, without a dime being given to those very expensive (millions of dollars!) consultants around town who sometimes get it done, and sometimes don’t,” Trump said. “Anyway, Tim Cook had an AMAZING career, almost incomparable, and will go on and continue to do great work for Apple, and whatever else he chooses to work on. Quite simply, Tim Cook is an incredible guy!!!”
In August 2025, Cook joined Trump at the White House to announced $100 billion in investments in the United States. Cook gifted Trump an Apple logo nameplate with gold base during the meeting.
Under Cook&#8217;s leadership, Apple became a $4 trillion company. He will be replaced by John Ternus, currently the senior vice president of hardware engineering.

President Trump Makes An Announcement In The Oval Office

Trump Remembers Time Apple’s Tim Cook Called To ‘Kiss My Ass’

Apple

Big Tech

Donald Trump

Politics

Tim Cook

Multiple Big Tech leaders, including some who have opposed President Donald Trump in recent years, joined the president for a White House dinner on Thursday and praised him for his “pro-business, pro-innovation” actions.
Apple CEO Tim Cook and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman both thanked Trump at the presidential dinner that was also attended by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, IBM CEO and Chairman Arvind Krishna, and Oracle CEO Safra Catz.
“I want to thank you for setting the tone such that we could make a major investment in the United States and have some key manufacturing, advanced manufacturing here,” Cook told Trump. “I think that says a lot about your focus and your leadership and your focus on innovation. I also want to thank you for helping American companies around the world. This is a really key thing, and I really enjoy working with your administration on those topics as well.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/Apple?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Apple</a> CEO <a href="https://twitter.com/tim_cook?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tim_cook</a>: &#8220;I want to thank you for setting the tone such that we could make a major [$600 billion] investment in the United States&#8230; That says a lot about your focus and your leadership and your focus on innovation.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/289vkiB6vy">pic.twitter.com/289vkiB6vy</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1963786061114417495?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Since Trump took office in January, Apple has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/apple-announces-500b-investment-in-u-s-plans-to-build-ai-server-factory-in-texas">announced</a> $600 billion of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-scores-another-win-apple-to-pump-100-billion-more-into-u-s-economy">investments</a> in the United States, including plans to build an artificial intelligence server factory in Texas and start a new manufacturing program that will focus on bringing more of Apple’s supply chain to the United States.
Altman, the head of OpenAI, also praised Trump, saying, “Thank you for being such a pro-business, pro-innovation president. It’s a very refreshing change. We’re very excited to see what you’re doing to make all of our companies and our entire country so successful.”
“The investment that’s happening here, the ability to get the power of the industry back, I think that’s going to set us up for a long period of great success leading the world,” Altman added. “And I don’t think that would be happening without your leadership.”
Altman said that he believes the expansion of the AI industry in the United States “will transform the world in a profound way.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/OpenAI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OpenAI</a> CEO Sam Altman: &#8220;Thank you for being such a pro-business, pro-innovation President. It&#8217;s a very refreshing change&#8230;The investment that&#8217;s happening here, the ability to get the power of the industry back&#8230; I don&#8217;t think that would be happening without your leadership.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/suGDIJFlx8">pic.twitter.com/suGDIJFlx8</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1963787418429018457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
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President Trump praised the “high IQ” group of tech titans, adding, “The most brilliant people are gathered at this table.”
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who recently had a public falling out with Trump, stated that he was also invited to the dinner but was unable to attend.
“I was invited, but unfortunately could not attend. A representative of mine will be there,” Musk <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1963624123998896368">posted</a> on his social media platform, X.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates was also in attendance, seated next to first lady Melania Trump, while Zuckerberg sat to the right of the president. Some conservatives, including pro-Trump activist Laura Loomer, were enraged that Gates and Zuckerberg got an invite to the dinner.
“Zuckerberg and Gates belong in prison. Not at the dinner table with President Trump,” Loomer <a href="https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1963770145358143598">wrote</a> on X. She said that the tech executives are two “of the biggest funders of anti-Trump and leftist activism in our country,” arguing that Zuckerberg helped rig the 2020 election against Trump.
During the dinner, Zuckerberg <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1963776213945897399">announced</a> that Meta plans to invest “at least $600 billion” in the United States in the coming years to build out data centers and infrastructure to power the next wave of innovation.”
Catz, the head of Oracle, told Trump that “AI is going to change everything.”
“The fact that you are our President and you recognized this right away, and you’ve unleashed American innovation and creativity, all the work your doing and basically every Cabinet post in addition to what’s coming out of the White House is making it possible for America to win,” she added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/Oracle?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Oracle</a> CEO Safra Catz: &#8220;AI is going to change everything&#8230; The fact that you are our President and you recognized this right away, and you&#8217;ve unleashed American innovation and creativity&#8230; is making it possible for America to WIN.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/gWfrUHhc9R">pic.twitter.com/gWfrUHhc9R</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1963791984394408239?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Before the dinner, some of the tech executives — including Altman, Pichai, and Krishna — attended a roundtable hosted by the first lady, which focused on AI in education. Google and OpenAI, along with Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, and Nvidia, also announced commitments to investing in AI education on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/trump-tech-ceo-rose-garden-dinner-1fee2de3">reported</a>.

President Trump Holds Dinner For Tech And Business Leaders At The White House

‘A Very Refreshing Change’: Tech CEOs Praise Trump During White House Dinner

Bill Gates

Mark Zuckerberg

Melania Trump

Microsoft

Sam altman

White House

President Donald Trump floated a series of new tariffs targeting Apple and the European Union on Friday, ramping up his push for companies to make their products in the United States.
In a pair of Truth Social posts, Trump said he was pondering slapping a 50% tariff on products from the European Union and a 25% tariff on Apple products if it does not move manufacturing to the United States. Trump said that trade talks with the European Union were not going anywhere and that he was recommending his new tariff take effect on June 1.
&#8220;The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with. Their powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans Companies, and more, have led to a Trade Deficit with the U.S. of more than $250,000,000 a year, a number which is totally unacceptable. Our discussions with them are going nowhere! Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025. There is no Tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States,&#8221; Trump wrote.
Tariffs on the European Union are currently at 10% after Trump placed a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs on April 9.
Andrew Bremberg, the former ambassador to Geneva and director of the Domestic Policy Institute, praised Trump&#8217;s pressuring of Europe.
“Europe must address the burdens it places on U.S. technology, telecommunications, and other important sectors,&#8221; he told The Daily Wire. &#8220;This is an important step in revitalizing our relationship, correcting systemic imbalances, and presenting a united front against the growing influence of Communist China in both Europe and the United States.”
In an earlier Friday post, Trump said Apple should move to manufacture the iPhone in the United States or face a steep tariff. Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly met with Trump on Tuesday at the White House.
&#8220;I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s (sic) that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else,&#8221; Trump wrote. &#8220;If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S. Thank you for your attention to this matter!&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s call on Friday for the iPhone to be made in America <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-urges-companies-like-apple-to-move-production-to-u-s-as-china-trade-war-intensifies?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Urges+Companies+‘Like+Apple’+To+Move+Production+To+U.S.+As+China+Trade+War+Intensifies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">echoed</a> his previous comments about wanting to bring production of the popular smartphone to the United States. Last month, after placing more than 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, Trump said it would be a great time for Apple to move manufacturing to the United States.
“This is a GREAT time to move your COMPANY into the United States of America, like Apple, and so many others, in record numbers, are doing,” Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114307832213562859">wrote</a> on Truth Social. “ZERO TARIFFS, and almost immediate Electrical/Energy hook ups and approvals. No Environmental Delays. DON’T WAIT, DO IT NOW!”
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Memorial Day Sale – Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
For years, Apple has manufactured iPhones in China, relying on the country’s cheap labor costs, but it has recently moved some of its production to India as it seeks to diversify its production base. Apple is considering ramping up iPhone production in India and shipping the devices to the United States.
In an April press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt affirmed that Trump wanted the iPhone made in the United States.
“Absolutely,” she said. “He believes we have the labor, we have the workforce, we have the resources to do it.”

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

Trump Fires Off Flurry Of Trade War Barbs, Threatens Apple

Economy

European Union

Executive

Tariffs

Apple announced on Monday that it would invest $500 billion in the United States over the next four years, which includes building an artificial intelligence (AI) server factory in Texas.
The Big Tech company said it will open the 250,000-square-foot server manufacturing facility in Houston in 2026, creating &#8220;thousands of jobs.&#8221; The investment also includes the expansion of teams and facilities in Michigan, California, Arizona, Nevada, Iowa, Oregon, North Carolina, and Washington, according to <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/02/apple-will-spend-more-than-500-billion-usd-in-the-us-over-the-next-four-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple</a>.
“We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we’re proud to build on our long-standing U.S. investments with this $500 billion commitment to our country’s future,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a press release. “From doubling our Advanced Manufacturing Fund, to building advanced technology in Texas, we’re thrilled to expand our support for American manufacturing. And we’ll keep working with people and companies across this country to help write an extraordinary new chapter in the history of American innovation.”
Apple&#8217;s announcement comes after Cook met with President Donald Trump last week. Trump hinted at the major Apple investment on Friday, saying that the company “stopped two plants in Mexico” and would build in the United States.
“They don’t want to be in the tariffs,” Trump said, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-20/apple-s-tim-cook-meeting-with-trump-as-tariffs-threaten-iphones" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg</a>. In a post on Monday morning, Trump thanked Apple for its investment in the United States, writing: &#8220;APPLE HAS JUST ANNOUNCED A RECORD 500 BILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THE REASON, FAITH IN WHAT WE ARE DOING, WITHOUT WHICH, THEY WOULD’NT [sic] BE INVESTING TEN CENTS. THANK YOU TIM COOK AND APPLE!!!&#8221;
In a press release, Apple said it would &#8220;also double its U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Fund, create an academy in Michigan to train the next generation of U.S. manufacturers, and grow its research and development investments in the U.S. to support cutting-edge fields like silicon engineering.&#8221; The tech giant says it currently supports nearly three million jobs in the United States, which includes &#8220;direct employment, work with U.S.-based suppliers and manufacturers, and developer jobs in the thriving iOS app economy.&#8221;
&#8220;As a proud American company, we&#8217;re thrilled to continue to make significant investments in the US,&#8221; Cook <a href="https://x.com/tim_cook/status/1894019006161473996?s=46&amp;t=o-U3qwC25WnWaylJ0oeG7Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X on Monday morning. &#8220;Today, we’re announcing a $500 billion commitment to support American innovation, advanced manufacturing, and high tech job creation.&#8221;
Cook, who has previously supported Democrats, attended Trump&#8217;s inauguration and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/apples-tim-cook-donating-1-million-of-his-own-money-to-trump-inauguration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">donated</a> $1 million to Trump&#8217;s inaugural committee.
The Trump administration has focused heavily on AI development in the first weeks of the president&#8217;s second term. Shortly after his inauguration, Trump announced a multibillion-dollar investment in AI infrastructure from an OpenAI, Oracle, and Softbank partnership. Earlier this month, Vice President JD Vance <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/look-to-this-new-frontier-with-optimism-vance-urges-world-leaders-to-follow-americas-lead-on-ai" target="_blank" rel="noopener">addressed</a> world leaders at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris, urging them to follow America&#8217;s lead on AI.
“This administration will continue to ensure that American AI technology continues to be the gold standard worldwide,” Vance said. “And we are the partner of choice for others, foreign countries, and certainly businesses, as they expand their own use of AI.”

Apple Announces $500B Investment In U.S., Plans To Build AI Server Factory In Texas

Artificial Intelligence

Business

Technology

Apple CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tim-cook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tim Cook</a> is reportedly reaching into his own pockets to write a $1 million check to President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s inaugural committee.
Axios reported that only Cook is expected to give to the fund — not the company.
Cook &#8220;believes the inauguration is a great American tradition, and is donating to the inauguration in the spirit of unity,&#8221; the report <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/01/03/tim-cook-apple-donate-1-million-trump-inauguration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, citing sources close to Cook. He &#8220;has made it clear over the years that he believes in participation, not sitting on the sidelines, and engaging with policymakers from both sides of the aisle.&#8221;
The report noted that Apple is America&#8217;s and the world&#8217;s largest taxpayer.
Trump has secured $1 million donations from other top business leaders and companies including from Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg — whose company owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and more.
Amazon.com was also planning to donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. The donation is being prepared as Bezos, who serves as Amazon’s executive chairman, is expected to travel to Mar-a-Lago next week for a private meeting with Trump.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was also reportedly planning to donate $1 million to the fund, telling The New York Times: “President Trump will lead our country into the age of A.I., and I am eager to support his efforts to ensure America stays ahead.”
Major automakers General Motors, Ford, and Toyota have all <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/major-carmakers-latest-companies-to-shell-out-1m-for-trumps-inauguration">promised</a> to donate $1 million each toward the fund.
Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich said that the shift by business leaders to cozy up to the incoming president reflected a state of &#8220;panic&#8221; that they had.
“I think the term is ‘panic.’ These guys were all anti-Trump, and they all know he has a great memory, an enormous amount of energy and is quite prepared to go after people who he thinks are a problem,” Gingrich told Bloomberg.
Tim Pearce contributed to this report.

Apple’s Tim Cook Donating $1 Million Of His Own Money To Trump Inauguration

General

Inauguration

The pagan mentality that’s taking over corporate America is truly astonishing.  
Apple just released an ad in which they effectively call for worship of Mother Nature. This is just pure pagan-Gaia-worship nonsense. In the commercial, Apple CEO Tim Cook and what we are to assume is the rest of the Apple board are meeting with Mother Nature, who is a black woman. This Mother Nature shows up to express her unease at the lack of progress corporate America has made in protecting her: the environment. 
A board member asks, “Mother Nature. Mother Nature. Welcome to Apple. How was the weather getting in?” 
“The weather was however I wanted it to be,” Mother Nature replies. “Let’s cut to the chase: In 2020, you promised to bring Apple’s entire carbon footprint to zero by 2030. Henry David Thoreau over here (the camera pans to Cook) said we have a profound opportunity to build a more sustainable future for the planet we share.” 
“I think our 10:00 said the same thing,” someone apparently working as an assistant for Mother Nature interjects.
“They all do,” Mother Nature says loftily. “All right. This is my third corporate responsibility gig today, so who wants to disappoint me first?”
“Well, we’ve got some updates we are excited to share with you,” a board member says hesitantly.
“Materials status,” Mother Nature cuts her off. 
“Is there a materials person here?” the assistant asks.
A woman nervously steps forward: “Yes. We are in the process of eliminating all plastic from our packaging by the end—”
“Let me guess,” Mother Nature interrupts. “Fifty years from now, when someone else is left holding the bag?”
“By the end of next year, actually,” the nervous woman answers. 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="2030 Status | Mother Nature | Apple" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HudZ1FT-TLQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
How stupid is this? There are a few things that are incredibly stupid about this. This entire commercial was apparently unveiled at the Apple product launch to demonstrate just how environmentally friendly they are.
First of all, it begins with Mother Nature arriving and they say, how’s the weather? And it gets really dark. Mother Nature says, “Whatever I want it to be.”
So here’s the question: If the environment is whatever she wants it to be, what are we worried about her for? If Mother Nature is all that powerful, then why is it we are not seeking to protect ourselves from her and not the other way around? This, by the way, was the story of virtually all of human history until the last five minutes: Mother Nature trying to kill people and people trying to figure out a way not to die. It’s very much the story of all of human survival and civilization. It’s still the story of all of human survival and civilization. Immediate contradiction. 
Then it turns into: How can we worship at the altar of Mother Nature? What if we recycle all of our plastic? Don’t even use plastic. What if we recycle all the aluminum in our phones? 
This is what we’re proving to you? What good people we are? What amazing, amazing people we are? Don’t worry about values. Don’t worry about whether what you’re doing is good or evil in terms of the product you produce, what kind of protections it has for children, or how content actually reaches people via the phones and computers you put up. Don’t worry about any of that. What you really ought to worry about is Mother Nature. 
This is paganism. Worshiping nature is a form of paganism because the reality is, nature doesn’t care about you. If you are making pagan sacrifices to the gods and you’re offering up not grain and meat but recycled aluminum, I’m not sure what the difference is.
My favorite part about all of this is this supposed Apple board meeting with Mother Nature. It’s super diverse. There’s a black lady, an Asian woman, an Indian woman. Except the actual Apple board is the whitest group of people in human history — a very white group of people. There is possibly one person on this entire list who is not white. They wouldn’t want to put that in the commercial because that would just be a bunch of white people meeting with a black lady and that wouldn’t look nearly as good or quite as diverse. 
It’s good when the mask comes off, when corporate America says people like Tim Cook have a chief goal and that is this: to worship Mother Nature and use their giant company to do so.
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Ben Shapiro Editorial Series 09

Apple Worships Mother Nature. Welcome To Pagan America.

Ben Shapiro

Opinion

Readers Pass

Apple CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tim-cook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tim Cook</a> hid behind staffers Tuesday to avoid answering questions from a reporter who grilled him on Apple enabling the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/communist-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese Communist Party&#8217;s</a> human rights abuses.
Cook hid from Fox News reporter Hillary Vaughn as he was leaving a <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/apple-ceo-tim-cook-flies-meet-gop-lawmakers-standoff-elon-musks-twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">meeting</a> with U.S. lawmakers in the nation&#8217;s capital.
&#8220;Do you support the Chinese people&#8217;s right to protest?&#8221; Vaughn asked.
Cook did not respond.
&#8220;Do you have any reaction to the factory workers that were beaten and detained for protesting COVID lockdowns?&#8221; Vaughn asked.
Cook did not respond.
&#8220;Do you regret restricting airdrop access that protesters used to evade surveillance from the Chinese government?&#8221; Vaughn asked.
Cook did not respond.
&#8220;Do you think it&#8217;s problematic to do business with the Communist Chinese Party when they suppress human rights?&#8221; Vaughn asked.
Cook did not respond.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨WATCH: Apple CEO Tim Cook ignores our questions on China as zero-COVID lockdown protests rage in the country. Full video 👇🏻 <a href="https://t.co/m0NpgRN6U4">pic.twitter.com/m0NpgRN6U4</a>
&mdash; Hillary Vaughn (@hillary__vaughn) <a href="https://twitter.com/hillary__vaughn/status/1598439834703613962?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Protests <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/protests-against-covid-lockdowns-erupt-across-china-some-turn-violent" target="_blank" rel="noopener">intensified</a> over the weekend in major cities across China, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Wuhan. According to media reports, a demonstration in Shanghai eventually devolved into chaos, with police clashing with protesters and deploying pepper spray. The protests emerged as a response to the “zero COVID” policies imposed by the Chinese Communist Party government since the beginning of the pandemic.
The protests reportedly began on Thursday after ten people were killed in a fire at a residential high-rise building in Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang Autonomous Region. Videos of the incident posted on social media spawned accusations that lockdowns contributed to the deaths, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/26/world/asia/china-protests-covid.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a> and Reuters reported. Residents of the city have been locked down and prevented from leaving their homes for as long as 100 days at a time, Reuters added.
According to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-health-china-fires-covid-4ffc00e5f6761be48f5887d57d66c708" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press</a> and Reuters, protesters gathered at Wulumuqi Road in Shanghai on Saturday, which is named after Urumqi, to hold a candlelight vigil in memory of the victims of the fire. Around 100 police officers stood by to reportedly keep demonstrators from gathering.
At some point during the night, police deployed pepper spray into a crowd of about 300 protesters. A witness told the AP that one of his friends was beaten, and two others were pepper sprayed. He added that police stepped on his feet while he tried to prevent them from taking his friend away; he also lost his shoes in the chaos and was left barefoot.
Outside Shanghai, major cities and college campuses were also the scenes of major protests. Reuters reported that demonstrations broke out in the cities of Wuhan, Chengdu, Lanzhou, and Beijing on Sunday. Protests in Wuhan reportedly turned violent, with demonstrators smashing through metal barricades, overturning testing tents, and demanding an end to lockdowns. The New York Times reported another protest in the city of Korla in northern Xinjiang.
John Rigolizzo contributed to this report.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-meets-with-apple-ceo-tim-cook-reveals-resolved-issue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk Meets With Apple CEO Tim Cook, Reveals ‘Resolved’ Issue</a>

Apple CEO Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook Hides Behind Staffers As He’s Grilled For Enabling Communist China’s Human Rights Abuses

Apple CEO Tim Cook Hides Behind Staffers As He's Grilled For Enabling Communist China's Human Rights Abuses

Communist China

Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/lindsey-graham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lindsey Graham</a> (R-SC) said during a Fox News interview Wednesday that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/apple" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple</a> is making a big &#8220;mistake&#8221; when it comes to siding with the Chinese Communist Party and their crackdowns on protests throughout China.
&#8220;Corporate appeasement of the Chinese Communist Party is pretty rampant,&#8221; Graham told Fox News. &#8220;I like Apple. They&#8217;re a great American company. But the Chinese Communist Party writes the rules of the road. And to do business in China, you either leave the customer base or you follow their lead.&#8221;
&#8220;The NBA has appeased China. The movie industry appeases China, now Apple. And I think this is a &#8212; this is a mistake,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;So, you have got Apple threatening to take Twitter out of the Apple Store and at the same time doing the bidding of the Communist Party, restricting sharing of information to people who are trying to protest.&#8221;
&#8220;I think we have got it backwards here,&#8221; he added. &#8220;And I think what drives this is just money and market share.&#8221;
On Wednesday, Twitter CEO Elon Musk met with Apple CEO Tim Cook, after which Musk tweeted regarding the notion that Twitter would be removed from the App Store: “Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.”
WATCH:
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TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>SANDRA SMITH, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: The Chinese Communist Party cracking down on protesters as they rally against COVID lockdowns.
We are now learning America&#8217;s largest company, Apple, has restricted the use of its AirDrop feature in the communist nation. It allowed users to share content between Apple devices and dodge China&#8217;s censorship. And now Elon Musk says Apple&#8217;s threatening to boot Twitter from its App Store.
So, how did we get to a point where big tech companies consider 280 characters a bigger threat than the communist regime?
Let&#8217;s bring in South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.
Senator, good to have you here today.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Thank you.
SMITH: Why are we here today? And why are we not going tougher on China for its behavior?
GRAHAM: Money. You got a billion people in China.
Corporate appeasement of the Chinese Communist Party is pretty rampant. I like Apple. They&#8217;re a great American company. But the Chinese Communist Party writes the rules of the road. And to do business in China, you either leave the customer base or you follow their lead.
The NBA has appeased China. The movie industry appeases China, now Apple. And I think this is a &#8212; this is a mistake. So, you have got Apple threatening to take Twitter out of the Apple Store and at the same time doing the bidding of the Communist Party, restricting sharing of information to people who are trying to protest.
I think we have got it backwards here. And I think what drives this is just money and market share.
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Yes, well, obviously too Apple has got a lot invested in this&#8230;
GRAHAM: Yes.
ROBERTS: &#8230; because of the protests against the COVID lockdowns at Foxconn factories. It looks like Apple is going to be short some six million iPhone Pros this year. So that&#8217;s definitely going to hurt their bottom line.
But it also gets into the idea of free speech when we pull back to 30,000 feet here, and we take a look at the idea that Apple, according to Elon Musk, may reexamine whether or not the Twitter app is available on the Apple Store.
And Musk also tweeted this &#8212; quote &#8212; &#8220;Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?&#8221;
(LAUGHTER)
GRAHAM: Well, all I can say, that Apple is a private company and Twitter&#8217;s a private company. They have their differences.
I would hope that Apple would keep allowing Twitter to be part of the Apple Store. But, big tech, you can&#8217;t sue these people because of Section 230. And there&#8217;s no regulatory scheme that works.
So I&#8217;m going to unveil a Digital Regulatory Commission to deal with social media companies like Apple and Twitter and Google. We need some regulatory environment to control the abuses of power here. So, I&#8217;m going to do that with Elizabeth Warren. You look for something that can bring us together in Washington, social media is out of control. They need to be regulated in some fashion.
And I think that brings both parties together.
SMITH: OK, so then maybe you agree with Karine Jean-Pierre at the Biden White House, who said this. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We&#8217;re all keeping a close eye on this. We&#8217;re all monitoring what&#8217;s &#8212; what&#8217;s currently occurring. And we see &#8212; we see it with our own eyes of what you all are reporting and just for ourselves what&#8217;s happening on Twitter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: So, the White House says it&#8217;s keeping a close eye on what is happening at Twitter.
GRAHAM: Yes.
SMITH: Do you agree with &#8212; with that?
GRAHAM: No, I think somebody needs to regulate social media companies, who are the largest companies on the planet.
If they take down your content &#8212; I like Elon Musk. Well, there may be somebody in charge of Twitter tomorrow that I don&#8217;t like. So, what happens if you&#8217;re a consumer if Twitter or any other group takes your content down? You have to appeal to the company yourself &#8212; itself.
I want to create a process where a consumer can make their case that my rights were abused to somebody other than the company. I&#8217;m not asking the White House to watch Twitter. We have the commission for securities. We have a commission for about every activity in America to make sure the consumer is protected.
When it comes to social media, your privacy is at risk, your content can be taken down because somebody doesn&#8217;t like you or what you&#8217;re saying. We need to have a system to deal with those problems.</blockquote>
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Senator Graham: Apple Is Making A Big ‘Mistake’ By Caving To The Chinese Communist Party

Senator Graham: Apple Is Making A Big 'Mistake' By Caving To The Chinese Communist Party

Elon Musk

Lindsey Graham

Twitter CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a> met with Apple CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tim-cook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tim Cook</a> Wednesday at Apple&#8217;s headquarters in Cupertino, California, and said that they resolved the conflict that erupted this week.
&#8220;Good conversation,&#8221; Musk tweeted. &#8220;Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Good conversation. Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1598090996281413638?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 30, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The meeting came after Musk signaled Monday that he was willing to “go to war” with Apple after the company had largely stopped advertising on Twitter and had allegedly threatened to boot the social media platform from its App Store.
Musk specifically called out Cook in a series of tweets where he also raised the issue of censorship.
“Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?” Musk asked. “What’s going on here @tim_cook?”
“Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why,” Musk added.
Musk then posted a poll, which he has used in the past to make decisions about what he will do at the company, asking, “Apple should publish all censorship actions it has taken that affect its customers[?]”
Musk highlighted an account that claimed to have been silenced by Apple and asked, “Who else has Apple censored?”
Musk also renewed his criticisms of the fees that Apple charges app developers, “Did you know Apple puts a secret 30% tax on everything you buy through their App Store?”
Account impersonations and Musk’s endorsement of some conservative figures have provoked ire among left-wing nonprofits, some of whom recently pressured advertisers to cease their relationship with the social media company. Several organizations endorsed a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/extremely-messed-up-elon-musk-blasts-activist-groups-for-pushing-advertisers-to-ditch-twitter-destroy-free-speech-in-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to the executives of major advertisers, claiming that “extremists” consider the takeover “a new opportunity to post the most abusive, harassing, and racist language and imagery,” including “clear threats of violence against people with whom they disagree.”
The world’s richest man initially <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1585619322239561728" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> advertisers that he acquired Twitter to “have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence.” He vowed that the social media platform would not become a “free-for-all hellscape” where users could breach the law with impunity.
Musk has <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1593385611632594944" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remarked</a> that widespread coverage of the acquisition and his subsequent attempts to reform the company, including negative reports from legacy outlets, has contributed to usage reaching record levels. He said his number-one priority is the <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1595671290421170179" target="_blank" rel="noopener">removal</a> of child exploitation content from Twitter, which previous management neglected to accomplish. Several advertisers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/major-companies-remove-advertisements-from-twitter-over-child-pornography-allegations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paused campaigns</a> on the platform two months ago after a report showed that child sexual abuse material had appeared alongside major advertisers’ profiles.
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Elon Musk Meets With Apple CEO Tim Cook, Reveals 'Resolved' Issue

Twitter

Twitter CEO Elon Musk signaled Monday that he might be preparing to &#8220;go to war&#8221; with Apple after the company has largely stopped advertising on Twitter and has reportedly threatened to boot the social media platform from its App Store.
Musk specifically called out Apple CEO Tim Cook in a series of tweets where he also raised the issue of censorship.
&#8220;Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?&#8221; Musk asked. &#8220;What’s going on here @tim_cook?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
What’s going on here <a href="https://twitter.com/tim_cook?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tim_cook</a>?
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1597290422375587840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why,&#8221; Musk added.
Musk then posted a poll, which he has used in the past to make decisions about what he will do at the company, asking, &#8220;Apple should publish all censorship actions it has taken that affect its customers[?]&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Apple should publish all censorship actions it has taken that affect its customers
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1597295832759382016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Musk highlighted an account that claimed to have been silenced by Apple and asked, &#8220;Who else has Apple censored?&#8221;
Musk also renewed his criticisms of the fees that Apple charges app developers, &#8220;Did you know Apple puts a secret 30% tax on everything you buy through their App Store?&#8221;
Musk stated back in May that &#8220;Apple’s store is like having a 30% tax on the Internet.&#8221;
&#8220;Definitely not ok,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Literally 10 times higher than it should be.&#8221;
Musk also shared a meme suggesting he would rather &#8220;Go To War&#8221; with Apple than &#8220;Pay 30%.&#8221;
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1597302404239659008
In 2018, Cook <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-apples-ceo-suggests-its-sin-not-ban-people-ryan-saavedra">said</a> at an event in New York City that tech companies have a moral obligation to ban certain people and certain types of content from social media and technology platforms, going so far as to suggest that not banning them is “a sin.”
“We only have one message for those who seek to push hate, division, and violence: You have no place on our platforms,” Cook said. “You have no home here.”
“If we can’t be clear on moral questions like these, then we’ve got big problems,” Cook continued. “I believe the most sacred thing that each of us is given is our judgment, our morality, our own innate desire to separate right from wrong. Choosing to set that responsibility aside at a moment of trial is a sin.”
Musk <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-to-start-creating-smartphones-if-apple-google-remove-twitter-from-app-stores">said</a> Friday that he would start creating smartphones if <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/apple" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/google" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google</a> remove Twitter from their app stores, which would be highly damaging to Twitter.
Musk’s remarks came in response to a tweet from political commentator Liz Wheeler, who wrote: “If Apple &amp; Google boot Twitter from their app stores, @elonmusk should produce his own smartphone.”
“Half the country would happily ditch the biased, snooping iPhone &amp; Android,” she said. “The man builds rockets to Mars, a silly little smartphone should be easy, right?”
Musk responded, “I certainly hope it does not come to that, but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone.”
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‘Go To War’: Musk Targets Apple, Claiming It Canceled Ads, Threatened To Boot Twitter From App Store

Musk Targets Apple After It Cancels Ads, Threatens To Boot Twitter From App Store

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/apple" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple</a> CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tim-cook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tim Cook</a> dismissed the notion that the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/tim-cook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">technology</a> company should make iPhones more compatible with devices that run the Android operating system.
At a Wednesday night event, the executive <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/7/23342243/tim-cook-apple-rcs-imessage-android-iphone-compatibility" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> to a question from Vox Media journalist LiQuan Hunt about enabling Rich Communication Services (RCS) — a protocol that would replace SMS messages with a more comprehensive texting system — into iPhone products.
“I don’t hear our users asking that we put a lot of energy in on that at this point,” responded Cook, who replaced Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011. “I would love to convert you to an iPhone.”
Apple held a 48% share of the American smartphone market in the second quarter of 2022, according to <a href="https://www.counterpointresearch.com/us-market-smartphone-share/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from research firm Counterpoint, with Samsung — which uses Android in many of its products — falling in second place with a 30% market share.
When Hunt noted that his mother is unable to watch the videos he sends via text due to the incompatibility between iMessage and RCS, Cook responded: “Buy your mom an iPhone.”
Google, which commercially sponsors Android, has mounted a <a href="https://www.android.com/get-the-message/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">publicity campaign</a> against Apple to pressure the market leader into adopting the RCS protocol. “It’s not about the color of the bubbles. It’s the blurry videos, broken group chats, missing read receipts and typing indicators, no texting over Wi-Fi, and more,” a webpage from Android argues. “These problems exist because Apple refuses to adopt modern texting standards when people with iPhones and Android phones text each other.”
Cook’s remarks come days after Apple <a href="https://www.apple.com/iphone-14-pro/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launched</a> four new iPhones and three new Apple Watches — including the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and Apple Watch Ultra — at a press event. The new smartphones will allow users to place emergency calls in areas without cell service by pointing their devices at satellites.
“It was a great day at Apple Park, introducing the world to products that are essential to our daily lives and that work seamlessly together,” Cook <a href="https://twitter.com/tim_cook/status/1567634224978575361" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> via social media on Wednesday.
Members of Congress have been eyeing Apple and other technology companies for possible antitrust violations. Although proposals such as the Open App Markets Act and the American Innovation and Choice Online Act — which would have restricted companies with their own shopping platforms or app stores from promoting their own products against other offerings — have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/as-senate-weighs-antitrust-bills-apples-ceo-called-ted-cruz-with-significant-concerns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">failed to advance</a> through Congress in recent months, the American Data Privacy and Protection Act was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/congress-weighs-data-privacy-bill-that-would-regulate-targeted-ads-online" target="_blank" rel="noopener">greenlit</a> by the House Energy and Commerce Committee at the end of July.
The legislation would adopt a “data minimization” approach toward firms’ collection of user information such that only the data points “reasonably necessary and proportionate” to specific applications — including user authentication, fraud prevention, and transaction execution — are gathered. According to an <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/american-data-privacy-protection-act-adppa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> from Wired, the bill would differ from the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), under which users must consent to the presence of cookies — files created by websites to track an individual’s online behavior.
While the legislation does not entirely ban online targeted advertising — which is often the motive for sites’ collection of user data — it prohibits such advertising directed toward children or based upon “sensitive covered data,” including health information, precise geolocation, and private messages.

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Last week, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commissioner Brendan Carr slammed Apple CEO, Tim Cook, for hypocrisy, after the Big Tech executive gave a speech regarding “Apple’s commitment to running the App Store in a way that promotes human rights.”
Carr <a href="https://twitter.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/1517181456732540934">argued</a> that Cook’s words run counter to the “harsh reality of Apple’s conduct in China.”
In a letter to Cook, Carr noted that while the Apple CEO was speaking in D.C. about his “App Store policies promoting privacy and human rights,” his company was “continuing its well documented campaign in Beijing of aggressively censoring apps at the behest of the Communist Party of China.”
Carr concluded, arguing that it is “past time to stand up” for human rights, and for Apple to “evaluate its overall relationship with China, particularly its extensive manufacturing operations there, to ensure that these relationships reflect the global Apple voices.”
Carr’s criticism follows <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/technology/apple-china-censorship-data.html">The New York Times</a>’ bombshell report from May 2021, in which it was shown that Apple’s self-proclaimed quest for privacy doesn’t apply when it comes to users of its products and services in China.
According to the report, Apple planned to store user data at centers in Guiyang, China — and another in the Inner Mongolia region — after largely ceding “control to the Chinese government.” This involved Chinese state management of the computers, the abandonment of encryption technology not permitted by the Chinese regime, and “digital keys that unlock information on those computers” being held in the very “data centers they’re meant to secure.”
“But to stay on the right side of Chinese regulators, his company has put the data of its Chinese customers at risk and has aided government censorship in the Chinese version of its App Store,” the report said of Cook.
The report also detailed allegations by current and former employees of the Silicon Valley giant that Cook “ultimately approved the plans to store customer data on Chinese servers and to aggressively censor apps” on the Apple “App Store.”
This came despite Apple’s claim to be committed to both “human rights” and privacy. In their “Our Commitment to Human Rights” document, for example, they declared that they “feel a deep sense of responsibility to make technology for people that respects their human rights, empowers them with useful tools and information, and enhances their overall quality of life.” 
According to the Big Tech giant, such “commitment” involves “setting the industry standard for minimizing personal data collection,” by building “ privacy protections into everything [they] make.”
Ian Haworth is a writer for The Daily Wire and contributor to Morning Wire. Follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/ighaworth">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ighaworth">Facebook</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/IanGHaworth">YouTube</a>.

Apple CEO Tim Cook Slammed For Human Rights Hypocrisy Over China Censorship

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