President Donald Trump famously declined to release his tax returns — even after The New York Times did it for him. But his executive-branch financial disclosures released Wednesday, provide a window into Trump's assets and liabilities and a snapshot of several gifts he accepted during his time in office.
David Enrich of The New York Times pointed out on Twitter that one of the gifts disclosed was a Mac Pro from Apple CEO Tim Cook with a listed valuation of $5,999.
—David Enrich (@davidenrich) January 21, 2021
While other business leaders have distanced themselves from Trump, Cook enjoyed a relatively cozy relationship with the president up until the attack on the Capitol earlier this month. In August 2019, Trump told Fox Business that Cook always called him directly, unlike other CEOs. Cook, when asked about his relationship with Trump, said he believed in "direct communication."
He used this direct communication to lobby Trump to exempt Apple from Chinese import tariffs in 2019, and the company received tariff-exemption approval on its Apple Watch and several other products, The New York Times reported.
Trump also misleadingly touted his close relationship with Apple as evidence of his manufacturing prowess. After a November 2019 tour of a Texas plant that manufactured Apple products, Trump tweeted, "Today I opened a major Apple Manufacturing plant in Texas that will bring high paying jobs back to America."
But the facility had produced Apple products since 2012 and was owned by a company called Flex that contracted with Apple, Insider previously reported.
In recent weeks, Cook — who held a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in 2016 — appears to have distanced himself from Trump in the wake of the attack on the Capitol. On January 6, the CEO tweeted that the day's events were "sad and shameful."
—Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 7, 2021
In the executive disclosures, the gift from Cook is recorded as a "Mac Pro Computer, the first created at the Flex Factory in Austin Texas." But the claim that it's the first Mac Pro manufactured at the facility seems misleading. The Verge reported the Flex factory in Texas first assembled a Mac Pro in 2013. The disclosure may be referring to the 2019 model of the Mac Pro, which was a redesigned model.
Of the 10 gifts Trump disclosed, the Mac Pro is the second most valuable. He listed a "bronze statue depicting flag raising over Iwo Jima" worth $25,970, given by a representative of the Greatest Generations Foundation. He also reported four gifts of golf clubs, one from Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, and a UFC belt courtesy of Colby Covington.
More broadly, these disclosures showed Trump's businesses took a hit during the pandemic. Insider reported Thursday that despite a 13% revenue growth at Mar-a-Largo, the revenue for Trump International Hotel in Washington declined and the majority of Trump golf courses suffered losses of 10% or more from 2019 to 2020.
