Aside From That, Mr. Cook, What Did You Think of the Movie?
Tim Cook is captured. There is simply no other explanation for his actions over the past year or so. But it perhaps culminated this weekend when Cook went to a special private showing of the documentary Melania at the White House. Yes, that Melania. That in and of itself would have probably been fine. I mean, it's potentially problematic for a host of reasons that I'll get to, but such is our world right now. Then one shot – a gunshot – turned attending that movie screening into a statement...
While Cook was enjoying his popcorn and champagne with the likes of Mike Tyson, Tony Robbins, and other "VIPs", it was complete and utter chaos on the streets of Minnesota. Just hours earlier, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was shot and killed by ICE agents. Maybe, just maybe, postpone the movie premiere?
Of course, President Trump was never going to do that because the official White House stance is that Pretti was a "domestic terrorist" and the agents were acting in self defense. And never mind that this was the second such murder in the past 17 days, the show must go on!
But it didn't have to for Cook. He could have, and should have, backed out of the event. Obviously. The fact that he didn't either suggests horrible judgement on his part or worse, cowardice. This is a man and leader of one of the biggest and most important businesses in the world who had long been thought to have a great moral compass.
He has lost his way.
I would say he has also lost his mind, but from a pure business perspective, you can see how he would try to justify this. It's gross, but it is what it is.
Apple, perhaps more so than any other company needs to maintain a working relationship with Trump. Because Trump has clearly zeroed in on Apple and Cook in particular, as his own personal rag doll. This is in part because Apple is one of the most valuable companies in the world and arguably the best known, certainly from a consumer-perspective. But it's also in part Cook's own fault, as he's made it clear that he would bend over backwards to work with Trump to benefit Apple – which has worked at times – dating to the first administration. But if you give a mouse a golden trinket...
Anyway, all of this means that Cook must stay in Trump's good graces. He has already learned this "lesson" once, the hard way, when he turned down going on tour with Trump to be trotted out as a human trophy. As a result, Cook, and by extension, Apple, were thrown right back under the tariff bus.
With that context, going to a movie premiere may seem like relatively low-stakes. But the situation changed with the situation in Minnesota unfolding in real time. I mean, Jesus Fucking Christ. Read the room. Or the news. Or even just a tweet.
Cook, clearly terrified of Trump, could have said he had a cold. He could have said anything. Instead, there he was being photographed with director Brett Ratner.1
Of course, Cook was not alone at this event.2 There were a few other business leaders, most notably Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon. But he also had a direct business reason for being there, albeit a seemingly ridiculous one in that Amazon produced the reported $75M (!) movie. Did I mention this was a documentary? But costs tend to balloon when you're paying a reported $28M to the subject of the documentary. Amazon's offer was apparently 3x the next closest one... Yes, this was essentially Jassy's version of Cook's gold trinket gift to Trump. Albeit a far more expensive and elaborate one!
Anyway, that's why Jassy (and Amazon MGM head Mike Hopkins) were on hand. They should have backed out too, but at least there's a business excuse, I guess. What's Cook's rationale here? Again, beyond being a captured man?
In this light, you can almost see why he wouldn't want to retire from the Apple CEO role anytime soon. Not because he enjoys or even wants such power, but, giving him some benefit of the doubt here, because he doesn't want to subject anyone else at Apple to such tasks.3 Perhaps best to wait out the Trump administration, or at least until after the midterms, when you don't have to squint now to see tech starting to turn against Trump as he creeps upon lame duck status...
For now, the embarrassment will continue for Cook. The harming of an otherwise outstanding legacy at Apple sold not for a song, but for a movie ticket.
Update January 28, 2026: Tim Cook has now addressed the situation, in the briefest of ways possible, in a memo to Apple employees. While calling for a "deescalation" – which mirrors President Trump's own words – the clear point of the memo is to suggest that Cook used his time with Trump this week to have a "good conversation with the president".
Was that before or after the credits rolled on the movie screening? Cook does not directly address the event itself, which is of course the problem here.
Update January 28, 2026: Some further thoughts on what Tim Cook and Apple could be thinking here – no matter how misguided...
M.G. Siegler
1 One has to wonder what the star of Apple TV's Your Friends and Neighbors, Olivia Munn, thinks about that... ↩
2 Given everything going on with NVIDIA and chip sales to China, I wouldn't have been shocked to see Jensen Huang there. But he was busy... in China. Where was Zuck? You could have seen him jumping at such an invite. Maybe upset that the FTC is appealing their antitrust loss? ↩
3 Could you imagine John Ternus, in his first week on the job, having to go kiss Trump's ring? He has other things to worry about... ↩