The documents, released Wednesday, list the item as “the first made 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 come out of the factory, but the timing seems unlikely. The factory opened in 2013. However, it could be the first 2019 model to leave the factory.
The Mac Pro gift likely stems from a factory visit in November 2019 to highlight US jobs at Flex Ltd.’s manufacturing facility. that makes Apple products. The controversy followed the meeting, as Trump suggested the factory was new to Apple under his leadership, and it wasn’t.
“We see the beginning of a very powerful and important plant,” Trump said at the time. “Anyone who followed my campaign, I would always talk about Apple, wanting Apple to build factories in the United States. And that’s what’s happening.”
It’s possible he messed it up with Apple’s new $ 1 billion Austin campus it broke on the same day.
Also featured on the disclosure is a $ 529 leather bomber jacket from Ford Chairman Bill Ford, golf clubs and accessories from Derek Sprague, president of the US Golf Association, and a $ 650 Ultimate Championship belt from martial artist professional Colby Covington.
The disclosure also revealed that Trump’s hospitality, including golf courses and hotels, took a hit last year as a result of the global pandemic, with such assets declining 38% from 2019.
While it is common for presidents to receive gifts, there are rules and regulations about what they can accept.
While the Mac Pro is an expensive gift, it is the base cost of the current 2020 model. That’s before you factor in a $ 999 Pro standard and other bells and whistles, like $ 5,999 for a 32-inch Pro Display XDR with Retina 6K display and $ 25,000 for 1.5 TB of memory. All told, a Mac Pro can cost up to $ 54,447.98.
Cook and Trump had built an unlikely relationship during Trump’s presidency, from dinner parties to appearances with Ivanka Trump to promote education. After Trump called the famous Cook “Tim Apple” at an event at the White House, the CEO changed his name to the one on Twitter.
But the pair also bumped over the years, including when Trump injected himself into a fight between the Justice Department and Apple over the security measures on iPhones used by the gunman who killed three people on a U.S. Navy base in Pensacola, Florida. also spoke out against Trump’s immigration policy.