Apple CEO Tim Cook is set to attend President-elect Donald Trump's upcoming inauguration ceremony, following his personal $1 million contribution to Trump's inaugural fund.
The attendance comes after Cook's December visit to Mar-a-Lago, where he dined with Trump, and his public congratulations to the President-elect on social media platform X following the November election results.
Cook joins a growing list of prominent tech industry leaders planning to attend the ceremony, including Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Tesla's Elon Musk, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
The tech sector has shown strong financial support for the inauguration, with major companies like Google, Amazon, Meta, Uber, and OpenAI making substantial donations. Other corporate donors include Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Coinbase, Toyota, Ford, GM, and AT&T, helping Trump raise $200 million for the inaugural fund.
Industry observers note that Cook's engagement with Trump may be strategically motivated, particularly given Trump's planned tariff policies. During Trump's previous term, Apple successfully secured exemptions for its flagship products like iPhone, iPad, and Mac, though some devices like Apple Watch, AirPods, and HomePod faced tariffs. In 2019, Trump acknowledged that Cook presented compelling arguments about how tariffs could disadvantage Apple's position in the market.
The inauguration represents a notable gathering of Silicon Valley's most influential figures, highlighting the tech industry's increasing engagement with the incoming administration.