Tim Cook at St. John’s Church – Image Credit: BBC
Apple CEO Tim Cook and many other big tech CEOs have been spotted at one of Monday’s inauguration events that heralds Donald Trump becoming President of the United States for the second time.
The United States will see the installation of Donald Trump in the role of President for the second time on Monday. For some of the more well-heeled members of society, they will see the event from close range.
While the 47th presidential inauguration itself will happen later in the day, other elements of the inaugural celebrations have already taken place. In the morning, Trump attended a service at St. John’s Church, alongside an entourage of company heads and major figures in the business world.
The attendees at the church included Apple CEO Tim Cook, as well as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google head Sundar Pichai, and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. Other major figures spotted at the church by the BBC include former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, FIFA chief Gianni Infantino, and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Elon Musk, SpaceX and Tesla chief and lined up to assist Trump by heading up the “Department of Government Efficiency,” was also spotted. Musk reportedly spent close to $300 million assisting Trump’s campaign.
Shou Zi Chou, chief of TikTok, is anticipated to be at the event, following insistence by Trump’s administration that it is safe from the law banning the social app in the United States. Uber’s Dara Khoshrowshahi and OpenAI’s Sam Altman are also expected to be in attendance.
Cook’s continued Trump relationship
Cook’s attendance at the inauguration isn’t entirely unexpected, given his dealings with Trump in the past. During the first Trump administration, Cook worked to communicate with the President.
Amid the meetings and dinners, Cook advised Trump over his handling of Chinese import tariffs to minimize the effects on Apple. He also talked about government waste in 2017, and made light of Trump’s “Tim Apple” gaffe.
This led to Trump praising Cook in August 2019 as a “great executive” due to communicating so regularly with Trump. “Others go out and hire very expensive consultants,” Trump said at the time. “Tim Cook calls Donald Trump directly.”
With Trump at the head of the metaphorical U.S. governmental table once again, Cook has started the charm offensive once again.
Cook’s attendance at the inauguration was confirmed on January 15, following his personal $1 million donation to the event. He also publicly congratulated Trump on his electoral win on social media, and has already attended a dinner with him.
Trump has also publicly claimed that Cook committed to Apple increasing its investment in the United States, after securing the top U.S. job again.
Given the playbook from the previous term, it’s hard not to imagine Cook spending even more time in Washington D.C. and becoming one of Trump’s biggest allies once again.
