In a recent interview with The New York Times, Trump revealed that he and Apple’s CEO Tim Cook had a phone conversation in which Trump tried to entice the Cupertino company to bring production back to the US via tax breaks, and that he would like to see Apple build multiple big plants in the US where production will take place.
Note that at the moment, Apple does not own or operate any plants in China or Taiwan. They are instead owned and operated by the likes of Foxconn and Pegatron, just to name a few, although given that Apple supplies them with so much business that they are practically synonymous with each other.
He said, “I got a call from Tim Cook at Apple, and I said, ‘Tim, you know one of the things that will be a real achievement for me is when I get Apple to build a big plant in the United States, or many big plants in the United States, where instead of going to China, and going to Vietnam, and going to the places that you go to, you’re making your product right here.’”
He also adds, “[Cook] said, ‘I understand that.’ I said: ‘I think we’ll create the incentives for you, and I think you’re going to do it. We’re going for a very large tax cut for corporations, which you’ll be happy about.’” Will this be enough to get Apple to bring production back to the US? Last we heard, Apple was exploring the idea with some of their partners overseas, but whether or not it’ll come to fruition remains to be seen.