Awkward moment Trump's iPhone rings twice in 30 seconds after trashing Apple
At a press conference on Apple products Friday, Trump's phone went off not once, but twice
It’s always a good idea to turn your ringer off during important meetings, even when it’s in the Oval Office.
President Donald Trump threatened a 25% tariffs on iPhones in a Friday morning TruthSocial post, saying that he "long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else."
Then at a press conference Friday afternoon, he added that tariffs imposed on Apple would also apply to “any other company that makes that product.” Ironically, in the middle of his spiel, his phone went off.
As he said, “I don’t want to have Canada making our phones,” his own began to ring.
“It’s a phone call, do you mind?” he joked. The reporters and others in the room can be heard laughing.
As he swiped to end the call, he said: “It’s only a congressman?”
He tried to get back into the meeting, taking questions from the crowd when his phone went off a second time.
He joked again: “It’s a different congressman. They’re all congratulating us.”
Trump's threat came after he asked Cook to stop making the popular phones in India and pivot to U.S. production instead. It was reported last week, while the president was in Qatar, that Trump "had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday."
"I said to him, 'You’re my friend, I’ve treated you very good ... but now I hear you’re building all over India. I don’t want you building in India,'" Trump told the gaggle of reporters. It was revealed that prior to Trump's sweeping tariffs, Apple had allegedly invested $500 billion in the United States in February.
It was also reported that, in order to counter its reliance on Chinese production, Apple had accelerated the production of iPhones in India to make 25% of its global production in the country over the next few years. Currently, 90% of the iPhones are assembled in China.
According to experts, moving iPhone production to the U.S. will invariably increase final prices to nearly $1,500 to $3,000. Apple produces very few products in the U.S., namely the Mac Pro.
It was reported in February that it would launch a manufacturing facility in Texas to produce servers for its AI system, Apple Intelligence.
For the latest local news and features on Irish America, visit our homepage here.