Trump visit despite violence: criticism of Apple CEO Tim Cook boils over
A movie night at the Trumps' causes massive criticism of Tim Cook, including internally. A memo from the Apple boss attempts to smooth things over.
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The proximity to US President Trump is once again becoming a problem for Apple CEO Tim Cook. In an internal memo, Cook has now responded to growing criticism from within his own ranks: The "events in Minneapolis" had also "deeply shaken" him, Cook emphasized in the wording published by the news agency Bloomberg. He knows that it is "very emotional and stressful for many," the CEO writes, but now "de-escalation" is needed. He had a "good conversation with the President" and presented "his views," Cook continued, without specifying what his views actually are.
Cook visits the White House
A few hours after US border guards shot an activist during protests against measures in Minneapolis on Saturday, Cook was a guest at the White House – for the premiere of a "documentary" about Melania Trump. The visit apparently caused the last straw: According to quotes collected by The Intercept, allegedly from internal Slack chats, employees reacted with deep anger and sarcasm.
Another emphasized that a "private statement" from Cook was not needed, and that the CEO should rather stand up for "basic human rights and moral principles" or at least not "interact smilingly with people who continuously trample these values underfoot." He had never seen so many concerned internal discussions on Slack as now, another Apple employee told The Intercept.
There is also unrest among employees in other US tech companies following the recent incidents. Several hundred employees from companies such as Google, Meta, OpenAI, Amazon, and Salesforce had recently urged their CEOs in an open letter to publicly take a clear stance against the US government's course in combating illegal migration. So far, the company leaders addressed have not commented on this.
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Apple against ICE tracking apps
Tim Cook had already gotten along well with the US President during Trump's first term, but seems to have significantly deepened the strategic relationship since January – including with large donations and multi-billion dollar investment promises. Under pressure from the US government, Apple had promptly removed a popular app for reporting the locations of officers of the controversial US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from the App Store last October.
(lbe)
