Tim Cook’s ‘Bad Joke’ Falls Flat: Trump’s Stinging Rebuke – ‘You Came Here With $500 Billion, Now Investing in India, I Don’t Want That’

US President Donald Trump, on May 15, revealed that he had conveyed to Apple CEO Tim Cook his displeasure over the tech giant’s plans to shift production to India, criticizing the company’s move to diversify manufacturing away from China.

“I said, ‘Tim, you know, I’m gonna charge you a lot of tax because you’re going to be doing your manufacturing in China.’ I said, ‘I think you’re going to be fine, but I’m going to charge you a lot of tax.’ And he said, ‘But I’m spending a tremendous amount of money in the US.’ I said, ‘Not enough. Not enough.'”

Trump continued, “I told Tim Cook, ‘You know, we’ve helped you a lot. You’ve got to help us.’ Because they do business in China because we pretty much let them do business. The same thing with India. I said, ‘You can do business in India, but we’re giving you so many breaks because all of these companies are coming back to the US, and we want you to build your factories in the US. I don’t want you to build them in India.'”

Apple has been ramping up production in India, aiming to manufacture around 25% of its global iPhones in the country over the next five years. The company is seeking to reduce its reliance on China, where approximately 90% of its iPhones are currently assembled.

“I said, ‘Tim, you gotta start making them [iPhones] over here.’ We don’t have to treat Apple differently. But when I heard they were going to India, I said, ‘Wait a minute. You can go to India, but you can make your product in the US and then sell it to India, but we’re not gonna carry your product for free into India.’ We’re working very closely with India, and I’m not giving up anything,” Trump asserted.

The President further claimed that Apple would “be announcing that they’re going to build a fantastic plant in Texas, and they’re going to spend a lot of money in the US,” without providing additional details.

Trump’s comments come amid broader trade negotiations between the US and India. He described India as “one of the highest tariff nations in the world,” noting that the country had offered a deal to the US, in which “they’re going to lower the tariffs, and they’re going to treat us very, very fairly.”

Previously, Trump had announced a retaliatory tariff of 26% on Indian goods, which has been suspended temporarily until July.

Apple’s primary assembly partner, Foxconn, received approval from the Indian government on May 12 to build a semiconductor factory in the country, in a joint venture with HCL Group.

While Apple has spent decades building its supply chain in China, it has been exploring alternatives, including India and Vietnam, to expand its production capacity.

Experts agree that shifting iPhone production to the US would be challenging, with estimates suggesting that the cost of an iPhone could increase from $1,000 to $3,500 if manufactured domestically.

Currently, Apple’s US-based manufacturing is limited, with the notable exception of the Mac Pro. In February, the company announced it would open a facility in Texas to produce servers for its Apple Intelligence artificial intelligence system.