Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple CEO Tim Cook Donating $1 Million to Trump's Inaugural Fund

Zest28 said:
I don't think Trump will have forgotten how Apple and its leadership have been supporting Joe Biden's administration. Also, Apple and Elon Musk don't seem to be friends as they had a few public clashes, something that Trump will not have forgotten either. So not sure what Tim Cook tries to achieve here?
Click to expand...
Timmy goes where the money goes. It tells more about his mindset as he’s in fear of being left out. He reminds me of smiguel from lord of the rings 😅
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: CorvusFox, Shirasaki, al256 and 12 others
Put yourself to his place. The guy is coming with vengeance, will have all the power to destroy your company, and is clearly looking for favors. TC had to do something to save his company's business, and decided to spend from his own pocket instead of putting Apple at the center of politics. I hate to hear that he did it, but given the circumstances, he probably did it the right way.

Also, at least the money is supposed to be spent on a one time event. It will enrich Trump's ego, instead of enriching his pocket.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: System603, whatgift, Shirasaki and 14 others
Partisan questions here, IMO, are not the thing that matter ultimately, what a sad statement on how extreme the US has gone in the "pay to play" nature of our government.

Not that that aspect hasn't been in the mix forever (it's human nature and unavoidable), but over the past few decades (the Citizens United decision by SCOTUS in the early 2000s being a tipping point, but it started long before then) campaign finance has absolutely gutted any kind of representative government.

Republican/Democrat/whatever, it really doesn't matter because those are, at this point, vapid distinction in label only because there is only one party: money. This is absolutely a confirmation that access to law making/executive function (and even increasingly, we are learning, judicial influence as high as SCOTUS) to favor your business objectives, box out your competitors, and/or push whatever agenda you'd like (regardless of Red/Blue/whatever) is available for purchase.

One could argue that it has now become so entrenched now that if you do not participate, you risk shirking your duty to your company by losing a seat at the table. At what point does campaign finance and such things (again, I am not making a partisan statement, this is across all parties and all candidates, because it is systemic and has been for decades) something like this more resemble "protection money" (the kinds of schemes that are illegal as organized crime) simply with a thin veneer of "politics" in front of it?

For those of us in the US who are voters, I hate to say it, collectively, we have allowed this to happen. Incrementally. We have given up control of our government to the highest bidder.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: lifeinhd, Tim Apple’s Glasses, Shirasaki and 12 others
emmab2006 said:
This is nothing more than Bizzare... Trump hates anyone who is Gay or Transgender, for an openly gay man such as Tim Cook to donate to a criminal is BIZZARE what is wrong with america.. i mean really.
Click to expand...
Money is the second most important thing next to Trump himself.
If you have money you can buy almost anything from him.
Tik Tok for example. Rich donor. All of a sudden Tik Tok is good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dutch60, Chuckeee, Bobt_smf and 4 others
redmac said:
Put yourself to his place. The guy is coming with vengeance, will have all the power to destroy your company, and is clearly looking for favors. TC had to do something to save his company's business, and decided to spend from his own pocket instead of putting Apple at the center of politics. I hate to hear that he did it, but given the circumstances, he probably did it the right way.

Also, at least the money is supposed to be spent on a one time event. It will enrich Trump's ego, instead of enriching his pocket.
Click to expand...
You actually think Apple isn’t going to reimburse him the million? They’ll reimburse Tim’s T&E and book it to lobbying expenses. Keeps Apple at arm’s length and the money in Tim’s pocket.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SpotOnT, Blackstick, rmadsen3 and 3 others
Fozziebear71 said:
Do you have proof that he hates gay or transgender people or are you just repeating what the media tells you to say?
Click to expand...
Trump said during his 2016 campaign that he would "strongly consider"appointing Supreme Court justices who would overturn the 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriages.

“We will get … transgender insanity the hell out of our schools, and we will keep men out of women’s sports,” Trump said at his recent Madison Square Garden rally, drawing an approving roar from the crowd of 20,000-plus.

He later backtracked on the gay marriage statement Ultimately, Trump is a textbook narcissist, and as such, is incapable of caring about anyone, but himself. narcissist will say or do anything they can to get what they want, which is usually flattery loyalty, and security. I doubt he cares about gay or trans people either way, he'll just say or do whatever gets him what he wants. In the case of the above statements, he was pandering to an audience.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
  • Love
Reactions: artifex, Ru_C, Cape Dave and 26 others
Some of the comments here are unfortunately emotional and not logical reactions.

This is a no-brainer decision on his part. As a chief executive officer who has a ***fiduciary duty*** to maximize shareholder value, it’s also the “right” decision. Morality and ethics isn’t really relevant, despite how you might feel.

Let’s be clear here. BILLIONS are spent on political campaigns, lobbying, etc. every single year, the majority of which comes from PACs to curry favor with politicians. And this doesn’t even count the money spent on soft influence, such as taking a legislator or someone on the Hill to a Nats game or a pricey dinner or on a trip.

This is kinda a non-story. Doesn’t matter whether you’re far left or far right. It’s just a different flavor of the same business-as-usual ice cream.

‘Murica.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: whatgift, Shirasaki, duncandb and 17 others
redmac said:
Put yourself to his place. The guy is coming with vengeance, will have all the power to destroy your company, and is clearly looking for favors. TC had to do something to save his company's business, and decided to spend from his own pocket instead of putting Apple at the center of politics. I hate to hear that he did it, but given the circumstances, he probably did it the right way.

Also, at least the money is supposed to be spent on a one time event. It will enrich Trump's ego, instead of enriching his pocket.
Click to expand...
All of these business leaders are cowards with no real values. That’s the truth of it. Despite the phenomenal wealth the U.S. and its democracy has helped them build, they’ll kowtow to some ignorant egomaniac at the first hint that they might be threatened.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dutch60, Shirasaki, Chuckeee and 5 others
Edgecrusherr said:
Trump said during his 2016 campaign that he would "strongly consider"appointing Supreme Court justices who would overturn the 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriages.

“We will get … transgender insanity the hell out of our schools, and we will keep men out of women’s sports,” Trump said at his recent Madison Square Garden rally, drawing an approving roar from the crowd of 20,000-plus.

He later backtracked on the gay marriage statement Ultimately, Trump is a textbook narcissist, and as such, is incapable of caring about anyone, but himself. narcissist will say or do anything they can to get what they want, which is usually flattery loyalty, and security. I doubt he cares about gay or trans people either way, he'll just say or do whatever gets him what he wants. In the case of the above statements, he was pandering to an audience.
Click to expand...
Those are political positions. They in no way prove he "hates" gay or transgender people. He had gay people in his previous administration. Has already nominated one that I know of in this upcoming administration. Weird way to show he "hates" someone.
 
  • Like
  • Haha
  • Disagree
Reactions: lostPod, AgeOfSpiracles, DustinDev47 and 23 others
HJM.NL said:
Timmy goes where the money goes. It tells more about his mindset as he’s in fear of being left out. He reminds me of smiguel from lord of the rings 😅
Click to expand...

No... he does what's good for Apple and its customers.

I do get that you wouldn't mind if Apple customers were all of a sudden needing to pay a high tariff on Apple products manufactured overseas.
 
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: rmadsen3, amartinez1660, I7guy and 2 others
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back