Tim Cook among CEOs confirmed for President Trump’s China trip

The White House has reportedly confirmed that Apple CEO Tim Cook will be among the executives accompanying President Trump on his trip to China this week. Here are the details.

Cook confirmed for Trump’s China trip

As reported The New York TimesThe White House says Tim Cook will be among a dozen business leaders accompanying President Trump on his trip to China this week. The president is expected to leave Washington tomorrow, May 12, and meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later in the week.

According to the New York Timesthe list of delegations includes:

Apple’s Tim Cook

Larry Fink of BlackRock

Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone

Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg

Brian Sikes of Cargill

Citi’s Jane Fraser

Jim Anderson of Coherent

Larry Culp of GE Aerospace

David Salomon of Goldman Sachs

Jacob Thaysen of Illumina

Michael Miebach of Mastercard

Dina Powell McCormick of Meta

Sanjay Mehrotra of Micron

Qualcomm’s Cristiano Amon

Tesla’s Elon Musk

Ryan McInerney of Visa

THE Times added that Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins was on the White House’s initial list, but his company later said he would be “unable to attend.”

As we noted last week, Tim Cook’s presence is particularly important for several reasons.

When Cook did not attend Trump’s trip to the United Arab Emirates last year, it reportedly angered the president. Shortly after, Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on iPhones not made in the United States. Times reported was probably a reward for Cook’s absence.

Cook’s presence this time around could avoid another public crisis with Trump in his final months as CEO, as well as reinforce the company’s commitment that he will remain involved in engaging with policymakers around the world as executive chairman.