So far the comments are explaining why Tim Cook would sit silent instead of doing the right thing: economics. It's the same excuse why they would stay silent on Chinese government abuses.<p>It's one of the core critiques of capitalism that companies are unethical and profit maximizing, caring only about shareholders, not stakeholders. Kowtowing to liars or autocrats to remain in their good graces is cowardice and enabling and we shouldn't justify everything because it's good for economics. We should hold these public companies to higher standards, and that includes taking actions to get into the good graces of political cronies.
Trump may have been wrong but I doubt he was lying — merely not correctly informed. The exact details of Apple’s supply chain are not something I would reasonably expect the President of the United States to be totally au fait with.<p>Tim Cook doesn’t have an excuse though.