The documents, released on Wednesday, list the item as “the first created at the Flex Factory in Austin, Texas”.
Apple (AAPL) did not respond to a request for comment on whether it was the first Mac Pro computer to leave the factory, but the timing seems unlikely. The factory opened in 2013. It may, however, be the first model of 2019 to leave the premises.
The Mac Pro gift probably comes from a factory visit in November 2019 to highlight American jobs at the Flex Ltd. factory that makes Apple products. The controversy followed the meeting, as Trump implied that the factory was new to Apple under his leadership, which it was not.
“We are seeing the beginning of a very powerful and important plant,” said Trump at the time. “Anyone who followed my campaign, I would always talk about Apple, that I want to see Apple building factories in the United States. And that is what is happening.”
It is possible that he mistook it for Apple’s new $ 1 billion Austin campus, which opened the same day.
Also listed in the disclosure is a $ 529 leather bomber jacket from Ford President Bill Ford, golf clubs and accessories from Derek Sprague, president of the United States Golf Association, and a $ 650 Ultimate Championship belt from the martial artist professional Colby Covington.
The disclosure also revealed that Trump’s hospitality assets, including golf courses and hotels, were hit last year due to the global pandemic, with such assets falling 38% compared to 2019.
While it is common for presidents to receive gifts, there are rules and regulations on what they can accept.
Although the Mac Pro is an expensive gift, it is the basic cost of the current 2020 model. That’s before you consider $ 999 Pro support and other features like $ 5,999 for a 32-inch XDR Pro Display with 6K Retina and $ 25,000 for 1.5 TB of memory. Altogether, a Mac Pro can cost up to $ 54,447.98.
Cook and Trump cultivated an unlikely relationship during Trump’s presidency, from dinners to showing up with Ivanka Trump to promote education. After Trump called Cook “Tim Apple” at an event at the White House, the CEO changed his name to the one on Twitter.
But the duo also hit heads over the years, including when Trump got into a fight between the Justice Department and Apple over security protections on iPhones used by the sniper who killed three people at a U.S. naval base in Pensacola, Florida. Cook has also spoken out against Trump’s immigration policies.