As much as any Apple product released during his time as CEO, Tim Cook’s tenure will be remembered for its ruthlessly efficient tight-rope walk between an autocrat in China and a would-be autocrat in the US. Over 15 years, Cook steered Apple through relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, including escalating conflicts between the two. While Apple’s deep entanglement in China raised serious questions about forced labor and censorship, Cook managed to appease Xi while dodging political blowback at home - and when Trump launched a trade war, Cook’s White House diplomacy softened the blows. The result: Apple ballooned into a multi-trillion-dollar company, while concerns about civil rights and working conditions were politely swept under the rug.

Cook was the executive who solidified Apple’s manufacturing prowess in China even before becoming CEO in 2011. Once at the helm, he had to navigate censorship, data privacy, and reports of forced or child labor - all before Trump even showed up. He regularly attended meetings with Xi alongside other tech CEOs, a closeness that sometimes put Apple in awkward spots. Human Rights Watch warned that Apple’s actions in China could clash with its stated commitment to user privacy.

In 2014, Apple broke from tech peers like Google by storing some Chinese users’ personal data on servers in mainland China, claiming it was to improve services. Privacy advocates raised eyebrows, though Apple reportedly kept the encryption keys outside China. Apple said audits found no forced labor at its contractors, but it also lobbied to weaken a US bill that would have required companies to guarantee no such workforce was used. It complied with Chinese rules requiring lower in-app purchase fees and removed apps the government objected to.

From Trump’s first term, Cook deftly handled the president’s whims, appealing to him with showy gestures that cost Apple little. During a tour of a Mac Pro plant in Texas, Cook stood by as Trump falsely claimed Apple was “building plants in the United States.” (The plant had been making Mac Pros for years, and while Apple was building something in Austin, it was a campus, not a factory.) Cook picked his battles: after Trump’s 2017 immigration restrictions on seven Muslim-majority countries, he told employees it was “not a policy we support.” When Trump’s trade war with China began, Cook won Apple reprieves from some tariffs, like on the Apple Watch.

In Trump’s second term, Cook’s support became more visible and his pushback more muted. He attended Trump’s second inauguration and donated $1 million to the committee. After federal agents shot and killed protester Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Cook attended a screening of Amazon’s documentary on Melania Trump, then assured employees he was “heartbroken” and had shared his views with the president. He continued offering Trump trophies - in August 2025, a gold and glass statue symbolizing Apple’s “Made in the USA” efforts - and cut deals to bring more manufacturing to the US to avoid costlier tariffs.

This balancing act let Apple do what it does best: churning out new iPhones year after year, with the supply chain and trade conditions to make it happen. Now, an AI-fueled RAM shortage is forcing Apple to raise prices, according to Cook. But even as Cook steps down as CEO, he won’t shed his role as Apple’s geopolitical negotiator-in-chief. In announcing his move to executive chairman, Apple noted Cook would continue “engaging with policymakers around the world.” Because nothing says retirement like a side gig in diplomacy.