Trump says Apple's Cook has promised 'big, big, big' US plants
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the president says Apple will bring jobs to the US.
Apple CEO Tim Cook listens to US President Donald Trump during an American Technology Council roundtable at the White House on June 19.
President Donald Trump wants to make the iPhone American.
In an interview Tuesday, Trump told The Wall Street Journal that Apple CEO Tim Cook has promised to build three manufacturing facilities in the US. The facilities would be "big plants, beautiful plants," he told the paper.
"He's promised me three big plants -- big, big, big," Trump said, referring to Cook. "I said you know, Tim, unless you start building your plants in this country, I won't consider my administration an economic success. He called me, and he said they are going forward."
Neither Apple nor the White House responded to a request for comment.
Trump made bringing manufacturing back to the US a signature element of his political campaign, one that resonated with voters in rust belt states. At one point, the president called on Americans to boycott Apple products because the company wouldn't turn over cell phone data on a terrorist to authorities. He has also promised to make Apple start manufacturing its products in the US instead of China.
Boycott all Apple products until such time as Apple gives cellphone info to authorities regarding radical Islamic terrorist couple from Cal
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2016
Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, which assembles iPhones for Apple in China, is already considering a facility in the US. The Journal reported on Monday that an announcement on a plant in Wisconsin could come sometime this week.
In May, Cook said Apple planned a $1 billion fund to help create manufacturing jobs in the US.
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