I mean, look at Tim Cook when he’s in the room with the President. You don’t need a Fox News body language expert to be able to see how insincere he is when he says “thank you for your leadership”. That being said, grow a spine.
You can bet that they’ve got experts advising on this and have probably war-gamed different scenarios. Given how hugely exposed Apple is to the geopolitics that Trump cares about, and as Trump could cost them huge amounts on a whim, he’s probably right to be inoffensive and obsequious.
We are not discussing what would be good for Tim Cook personal wealth and career. Topic is having backbone, courage or moral values. Or, not having them.
This "behind closed doors" crap is about CEO wanting to be seen as being in opposition and as in support simultaneously.
And actually, I’m now forgetting if those tariffs are in play on phones again or not because of how chaotically the tariffs have been applied. I can’t be the only one losing track.
Let’s assume the tariffs are in play though. Apple now has to perform some combination of:
- reduce margins on devices sold in the US
- move manufacturing to a lower-tariffed country
- raise prices to offset tariffs
All of these impose unnecessary costs to the company compared to 9 months ago and risk alienating their consumer base. How is this to the benefit of shareholders?