Apple’s Tim Cook Plans to Join Tech CEOs at Trump’s Inauguration

(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook is planning to attend the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump next week, the latest in a wave of Silicon Valley leaders traveling to Washington for the ceremony.

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Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, Meta Platforms Inc.’s Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla Inc. who has quickly become one of Trump’s foremost supporters and financial backers, are all also expected to attend.

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The inaugural attendees were described by a person familiar with the matter on the condition of anonymity. Apple declined to comment.

The appearance from the tech titans comes as the industry has sought to warm relations with Trump following his victory last November, and despite frequent clashes during his first term in office. Many, including Cook, have traveled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where the president-elect and Musk have held a series of private meetings and dinners to discuss plans for the coming term.

The incoming president has raised $200 million for his inauguration, according to a person familiar with the fundraising effort, shattering previous records and underscoring corporate efforts to build rapport with the new administration.

For Apple in particular, the company is eager to avoid new tariffs on its signature iPhone, as well as European regulatory crackdowns on its App Store. Cook leveraged a personal relationship with Trump during his first term to win tariff carveouts for Apple products.

Shortly following the election, Cook posted to social media that the company looked “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.”

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But Trump has also sparred with the company over its privacy policies, saying it should do more to help federal law enforcement access encrypted phones and applications. Apple has for years resisted requests from law enforcement to build a backdoor into its phone operating system that would allow authorities to access data without a user’s password, saying such code could be exploited by hackers.

--With assistance from Hadriana Lowenkron.

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