President Donald Trump is set to meet with Apple CEO Tim Cook and the heads of other companies at the White House today to discuss ways the government can cut waste and improve its services.
During a conference call Friday, the Trump administration described an “economic opportunity” to save up to $1 trillion over the course of a decade by reducing government IT costs, better using government spending power, cutting fraud and more.
The meeting will also address Trump’s review of the U.S. visa program for bringing high-skilled foreign workers into the United States.
Almost 20 chief executives will be at the meeting. Alongside Apple, other companies present will include Amazon, Alphabet, venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, Microsoft, IBM, Mastercard, Intel, Qualcomm, Oracle and Adobe.
According to Axios, Tim Cook will raise four points during the event: disagreeing that immigration drives down wages, arguing in favor of strong encryption, flying the flag for veteran rights, and discussing human rights more generally.
A challenging working relationship
Cook has so far enjoyed a turbulent relationship with Trump. Earlier this year, Cook criticized Trump’s executive order limiting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. More recently, he spoke out about Trump’s decision to take the United States out of the Paris climate agreement.
Despite agreeing to go to the meeting today, Cook has previously declined to join a White House advisory committee for Trump. In a recent interview, Cook said, “I don’t find councils and committees to be terribly productive.”
We’ll have to wait and see whether today’s meeting turns out to be any more fruitful. If the “economic opportunity” mentioned above could benefit Apple in some way, it’s certainly in Cook’s interests to play nice.
Source: Reuters