Apple CEO says he pressed Trump on DACA, tariffs

Apple CEO Tim Cook said he pressed President Trump during a recent meeting on his tariff threats against China and asked him to find a long-term solution for young immigrants whose status is in limbo. 

Cook met with Trump in late April as the president was exchanging threats of steep tariffs with Chinese leaders. The back-and-forth between the two nations prompted fears of a potential trade war.

“I felt that tariffs were not the right approach there, and I showed him some more analytical kinds of things to demonstrate why,” Cook told Bloomberg in an interview that aired Tuesday.

Apple, which is based in California, produces most of its products in China. 

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Cook also encouraged Trump during their meeting to address the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which his administration ended last year.

The Obama-era program allows certain immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children to live and work here without fear of deportation. The program officially expired on March 5, when lawmakers were unable to pass a legislative fix. 

Federal courts have since ruled that the Trump administration did not have the authority to end the program, leaving the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who benefit from it in limbo.

Cook warned in the interview that the court decision does not serve as a long-term solution, however, saying “we’re only one ruling away from a catastrophic case there.”

DACA has been a key issue for the Apple CEO.

Cook was among the more than 100 prominent executives who wrote to Congress in January urging lawmakers pass legislation to protect those who benefit from DACA. He previously called the program’s future “the biggest issue of our time.”