Apple renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America on its maps Tuesday — but White House sources remain cynical about leader Tim Cook’s willingness to work with the Trump Administration.
Apple’s apparent stonewalling has become a flashpoint of frustration among conservatives.
“Google and Facebook are at least smart enough to pretend that they’re changing their attitudes towards Trump — but Apple’s not even hiding the fact that they still have contempt for him,” Mike Davis, a member of the White House Counsel Office told NYNext.
“At every opportunity, Apple doesn’t play nicely with this administration … I’m sure [CEO] Tim Cook made a phone call, but it has to be a bigger corporate approach to incorporating American values embraced by conservatives and Republicans,” Nathan Leamer, who runs a tech policy consulting firm told NYNext.
While Cook attended Trump’s swearing-in, donated $1 million to the inauguration committee and has had multiple calls with the president, sources claim he has not meaningfully aligned Apple’s policies with the administration’s priorities, which is what they are really looking for.
A source close to the White House claimed Cook is only paying lip service to Trump, but the president sees through it.
“Apple keeps pushing DEI, even as other companies like Meta and Walmart have stopped. Tim Cook cannot be trusted, and Trump knows that,” the source claimed to The Post.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.
Last month, Apple’s board of directors successfully urged shareholders to reject a proposal that would roll back some of the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Meanwhile, as other companies like Oracle and OpenAI have promised to invest billions in jobs within the US economy, Apple’s supply chain is still almost entirely in Asia; making its iPhones in China, India and Vietnam.
Apple has 51 suppliers in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, according to analyst estimates. The company was the biggest seller of smartphones in China until 2024, when it was overtaken by local rivals Huawei and Vivo.
The Post has previously reported on Cook’s apparent efforts to appease China’s communist leaders in order to maintain his company’s access to the country’s 1.3 billion consumers.
“Apple would gladly call it the Gulf of China if asked by Xi Jinping,” Davis quipped.
Other companies that have previously modified their business models to appease Chinese authorities include Disney, Microsoft and General Motors.
