Apple CEO visits Mar-a-Lago, joining list of tech execs seemingly courting Trump

Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Mar-a-Lago on Friday, joining a growing list of tech executives that are seemingly courting President-elect Trump ahead of his return to the White House.

The president-elect and Cook had dinner at Trump's Florida resort in West Palm Beach, multiple outlets reported. The meeting marked their first interaction since their call two months ago.

The president-elect said in mid-October during his appearance on Patrick Bet-David’s podcast that the Apple executive talked to him about fines the European Union imposed on the company.

“Then two hours ago, three hours ago, he called me,” Trump said. “He said, ‘I’d like to talk to you about something.’ ‘What?’ He said, ‘The European Union has just fined us $15 billion.’ That’s a lot.”

The Hill has reached out to Apple and Trump’s transition team for comment. 

Big Tech executives have seemingly been looking to bolster their relationship with the president-elect in recent months, even ahead of his election victory last month.

Following the Trump transition team's reveal of benefits for inauguration sponsors, several tech companies have stepped forward with donations.

OpenAI’s Sam Altman is planning to personally donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, his spokesperson confirmed to The Hill on Friday. 

Amazon, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, is planning to also donate $1 million to the president-elect’s inauguration. The e-commerce giant is also expected to make a $1 million in-kind contribution by streaming the Jan. 20 ceremony through Prime Video.

Trump said he is meeting with Bezos, also the billionaire owner of The Washington Post whom he has long criticized, next week. 

Similarly to Amazon and Altman, Meta has already donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, the tech company told The Hill on Thursday, just weeks after the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited Mar-a-Lago. 

Cook was one of the many tech leaders to congratulate Trump on his win over Vice President Harris in last month's contest.

“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," he wrote in a post on social platform X.