Apple CEO Tim Cook participated in a highly publicized meeting with Trump last week, along with a select group of other tech industry billionaires, including top dogs from Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google. Trump famously criticized Apple during his campaign for refusing to help the FBI crack the San Bernardino attacker’s iPhone, and manufacturing its products in Asia, so his surprise election puts Cook in a tricky position. This fact also raised obvious questions about his decision to attend a meeting with him.
Cook gave the rationale behind is attendance in an employee question and answer session hosted on Apple Web, an internal information service. His response to the following question was acquired and published in full by Techcrunch: “Last week you joined other tech leaders to meet President-elect Donald Trump. How important is it for Apple to engage with governments?”
His answer essentially invoked the platitude that you have to be in it to win it. Cook noted that it was “very important” for Apple to engage with Trump rather than giving him the cold shoulder because, as president, he will wield great influence in the tech industry. In order to advance Apple’s position on a variety of policy issues, Cook averred, it’s necessary to play the game.
“Personally, I’ve never found being on the sideline a successful place to be. The way that you influence these issues is to be in the arena,” Cook said. “And we engage when we agree and we engage when we disagree. I think it’s very important to do that because you don’t change things by just yelling. You change things by showing everyone why your way is the best. In many ways, it’s a debate of ideas.”
Some of the issues Cook explicitly referenced in his statement include privacy and security, climate change, and job creation, which are all major points of contention between Trump and Silicon Valley.
After the round table, Cook met with Trump for a private meeting behind closed doors. Afterward, he was largely tight-lipped about the substantive content of his discussion to the media, so it’s difficult to tell how receptive he thinks Trump will be to a debate of ideas.
Featured Image: Press Telegraph
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