Tim Cook dines with Trump at Mar-a-Lago: report

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) chief executive Tim Cook held a meeting with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, the New York Times reported Saturday, his first meeting with the President-elect since his victory in November.

The two men later dined on the patio at Mar-a-Lago, the report said, citing two people with knowledge of the meeting.

Apple (AAPL) and the Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a Seeking Alpha request for comment.

Cook joins other tech leaders making a beeline to Mar-a-Lago, as Big Tech looks to improve ties with the president-elect.

Meta (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg dined with Trump in November, and Alphabet’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) Sundar Pichai held a meeting with Trump on Thursday. Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos will meet Trump next week.

Amazon (AMZN) and Meta (META) are also reportedly donating $1 million each to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund.

Trump has repeatedly promised to end Big Tech censorship and protect free speech. Big Tech companies are also currently facing several antitrust lawsuits and regulatory scrutiny over AI deals.

Cook was among the tech leaders who congratulated Trump on his election win.

“We look forward to engaging with you and your administration to help make sure the United States continues to lead with and be fueled by ingenuity, innovation, and creativity,” Cook wrote in a post on X.

Cook had a warm relationship with Trump during his first term, successfully fending off tariff threats. Under the Biden administration, Apple (AAPL) was sued by the U.S. Department of Justice in an antitrust case.

According to research firm Jefferies, Apple (AAPL) could wind up seeing a hit to its vaunted gross margins if President-elect Trump were to institute tariffs on Chinese imports.

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