Apple CEO Tim Cook Has Learned the Rules for Getting Ahead in Trump’s America
If you want to understand the silly little scene that played out between Apple CEO Tim Cook and President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, you might start by remembering something that Vice President J.D. Vance said two years ago.
While attending a conference for nationalist conservatives, Vance offered an astonishing view of politics. The “idea that there is this extremely strong division between the public sector and the private sector” was flawed, Vance argued. In reality, he went on to say, “there is no meaningful distinction between the public and the private sector in the American regime. It is all fused together.”
That’s a useful framework for understanding much of what has happened since Trump (with Vance at his side) returned to the White House in January. That includes various trade policies and tariffs, of course, but also the “golden share” in U.S. Steel that Trump secured for himself, and how the administration leveraged its regulatory authority to force Paramount to pay a huge settlement. In each case, the Trump administration has tried to erase (or has ignored) the distinction between the public and the private sectors, just as Vance said.
Trump takes a further step. To him, not only is the private public, but the public is also very personal. He sees himself as the CEO of the department store that is the United States of America—a metaphor that, notably, does not make any distinction between the government and the rest of the country. He’ll decide what deals are in everyone’s best interest, no matter what consenting individuals engaged in peaceful, private commerce might want to do. If he’s unhappy about something in Brazil, it will be your problem. And if he’s pleased with gifts and tributes, then all is well.
Do you run a foreign company trying to make a huge investment in American steel manufacturing? You’d better be prepared to cut Trump a piece of the action. Are you unhappy about Medicaid cuts that reduce the reimbursements your company receives from the government? That’s nothing a $5 million donation and dinner at Mar-a-Lago can’t fix. There’s a good reason why lobbying firms with direct access to the White House are reportedly keeping very, very busy these days.
And that’s why Cook found himself in the Oval Office this week, presenting Trump with a special gift from Apple: A gold and glass token of the company’s appreciation for Trump’s special attention.
Tim Cook: It is engraved for President Trump. It is a unique unit of one. And the base co
Article from Reason.com
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