Tim Cook's 15-year tenure as Apple CEO will be remembered as much for its political manoeuvring as for its products, as he steered the company through a delicate balancing act between China's President Xi Jinping and the United States' President Donald Trump. Cook cultivated close ties with Xi to protect Apple's vast manufacturing base and market access in China, even as human rights groups raised concerns over censorship, data privacy and forced labour, while simultaneously managing an often volatile relationship with Trump that helped shield Apple from the worst of US-China trade tensions. This diplomatic skill is credited with helping Apple grow into a multi-trillion-dollar company, though critics argue it came at the cost of downplaying serious human rights and labour concerns.

Notable episodes include Apple's 2014 decision to store some Chinese users' data on mainland servers, which drew criticism despite Apple keeping encryption keys elsewhere, and reports that the company lobbied against US legislation targeting forced labour in supply chains. With Trump, Cook combined largely cost-free gestures — such as a staged factory tour where Trump wrongly claimed Apple was building US plants — with occasional pushback, including distancing Apple from Trump's 2017 travel ban. In Trump's second term, Cook's public support grew more visible, including a $1 million donation to the inauguration committee and attendance at high-profile events, even as he privately expressed unease over administration actions, reflecting a more muted, less confrontational stance than in earlier years.