In a podcast released on 10/18/24 Donald Trump former US president and current Republican candidate‚ talked about a recent chat with Tim Cook Appleʼs CEO. The conversation was about the European Unions fines on the tech giant
Trump said‚ “Cook called me few hours ago. He told me the EU fined them $15 billion and then another $2 billion“ The ex-president didnt provide more details about the call and Apple hasnt confirmed if it actually happened
These fines Trump mentioned are related to two separate EU actions. Last month Apple lost a long-running court case‚ which means theyll have to pay about $14 billion in back taxes to Ireland. This is part of the EUs bigger plan to make sure big companies pay their fair share. Also earlier this year the company got hit with a $2 billion fine for how it runs its App Store — the EU thinks it doesnt give other music streaming apps a fair chance
During the podcast Trump told how he responded to Cook: “Tim I got to get elected first... But Im not going to let them take advantage of our companies That wont be happening“ This shows Trumps stance on protecting US businesses from what he sees as unfair treatment by the EU
The podcast appearance which lasted about an hour-and-a-half comes as Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris are in a tight race for the presidential election on 11/5/24. Trumps comments about his call with Cook and his promises to protect US companies if elected are likely part of his campaign strategy to appeal to business-minded voters