Tim Cook joined other Big Tech CEOs with the notable absence of Elon Musk for a dinner at the White House, and took the opportunity to thank Trump for his focus on innovation.
The dinner was originally reported to be being held at what was the White House Rose Garden, but footage from the evening shows it taking place indoors. The footage obtained by NDTV also captures Trump praising Apple, and inviting Cook to speak.
"I want to thank you for including me this evening," began Cook. "It's incredible to be among everyone here, particularly you and the First Lady."
"I've always enjoyed having dinner and interacting, " he continued. "I want to thank you for setting the tone such that we could make a major investment in the United States and have some key manufacturing advanced manufacturing here."
"I think that says a lot about your focus and your leadership and your focus on innovation," Cook said. "I also want to thank you for helping American companies around the world. This is a very key, key thing."
Saying that he "really enjoy[s] working with your administration on those topics," he also thanked Melania Trump for focusing on education."
While Cook said all the things that Trump appears to require, he did also stress that education "is the great equalizer." And if he didn't say anything directly about disagreeing with Trump, he did put Apple's more liberal point of view across.
"We're all, we are all different in some ways, but we all believe in the power of technology to improve people's lives," he said, "and that is the thing that binds us all together."
Trump's response was: "And Tim, how much money will Apple be investing in the United States?"
Cook repeated the previous sum of $600 billion, and added "we're very proud to do it."
There was one key absence — Elon Musk. It's not clear if he was invited, or chose not to attend.
