In an intimate White House dinner with senior Silicon Valley executives, US President Donald Trump asked Apple CEO Tim Cook about Apple's investment strategy in the United States, mentioning Apple's coming back "home in a big way" from "elsewhere"—a comment widely understood as referring to the company's operations in India.
The meeting, which included Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, featured Trump questioning Cook, "Tim, how much money will Apple be investing in the United States? I know it's a very large amount. You were elsewhere before, and now you're really coming home in a big way. How much money will you be investing?"
Cook responded, "$600 billion," while also praising the President for "setting the tone" that enabled Apple to expand in the US.
"I want to thank you for setting the tone such that we could make a major investment in the United States... That says a lot about your focus and your leadership and your focus on innovation," said Cook during a dinner also attended by US First Lady Melania Trump.
Trump had previously shown his displeasure to Cook in May for Apple producing products in India, slamming the company's decision to diversify production out of China.
"I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday...I said to him, 'My friend, I treated you very good. You're coming here with $500 billion, but now I hear you're building all over India.' I don't want you building in India," Trump had said, urging Apple to pivot stateside.
Trump was talking about Apple's promise of $500 billion US investment, made in February after Trump's second-term election win.
Apple has been ramping up manufacturing in India in a bid to cut dependence on China, where around 90 percent of its top-end iPhones are produced. The firm intends to produce approximately 25 percent of worldwide iPhones in India in the next few years.
In August, Apple is said to have reassured the Indian government that it would continue its push in India. Apple plans to invest around $2.5 billion in India, increasing annual iPhone manufacturing capacity from more than 40 million units to up to 60 million.
Trump also asked the same questions regarding US investments from the other CEOs present at the dinner. When questioned, Meta's Zuckerberg affirmed, "$600 billion."
In the case of Google, Pichai answered, "We are well north of $100 billion. In the next two years, it will be $250 billion in the US."
"That's great, that's great. We're proud of you. Thank you. A lot of jobs, a lot of jobs. Yeah, good," Trump said.
On Microsoft's investment, CEO Satya Nadella replied, "This year, in the United States, we are close to around $75 to $80 billion."
"Good, very good. Thank you very much," Trump said.
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