Trump wanted a US-made iPhone. Apple gave him a gold statue. (arstechnica.com)
from some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org to technology@lemmy.world on 07 Aug 17:12
https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/40006337

I’m sick of powerful people / companies kissing his ass, but I can’t deny that this is a smart move for getting out from under his disgusting gaze.

#technology

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Jozav@lemmy.world on 07 Aug 17:22 next collapse

suck-up

Archangel1313@lemmy.ca on 07 Aug 17:23 next collapse

Lol! Trump wants a thing. They don’t want to do it. So, they toss him something shiny to make him forget the thing he wanted?

hansolo@lemmy.today on 07 Aug 18:34 next collapse

Yeah.

It fucken worked, didn’t it?

echodot@feddit.uk on 07 Aug 18:52 next collapse

It’s like when I want to get my cats in from outside. They don’t want to come in of course so I have to shake the bag of treats, when they come in they give them like five even though clearly they would like the entire packet.

They never learn.

drhodl@lemmy.world on 07 Aug 21:05 collapse

Sounds like your cats have you well trained :)

random_character_a@lemmy.world on 07 Aug 20:50 collapse

Not stupid if it works. Something else is.

hemmes@lemmy.world on 07 Aug 23:14 next collapse

They really know their audience.

grrgyle@slrpnk.net on 08 Aug 07:57 collapse

It works because the thing he really wants is validation, and they gave it to him. Now he’ll continue, and come back around their way again soon, I’m sure.

[deleted] on 07 Aug 17:44 next collapse

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[deleted] on 07 Aug 21:35 collapse

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veeesix@lemmy.ca on 07 Aug 17:51 next collapse

Since when did the word “statue” now also mean “trophy” and/or “award”?

teft@piefed.social on 07 Aug 18:09 next collapse

I'm also confused like you. Looking at the pictures in the article and the others at The Verge it appears to be a trophy or award like you get for employee of the year not a "statue".

<img alt="" src="https://www.vegastrophies.com/wp-content/gallery/crystal-awards/CRY014M.jpg">

<img alt="" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/gettyimages-2228840629.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C1.8038388101698%2C100%2C96.39232237966&w=1080">

simplejack@lemmy.world on 07 Aug 18:37 collapse

Commemorative disk?

CaptDust@sh.itjust.works on 07 Aug 18:12 next collapse

That’s one of the nicer participation trophies I’ve seen

AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space on 07 Aug 18:27 next collapse

On the face of it, this falls foul of numerous anti-bribery laws and regulations of the sort employees of companies such as Apple are required to do tests on annually. (If you ever so much as worked as a mail clerk at a large company, you will have clicked through multiple-choice tests driving home that, should you somehow find yourself in a position of trading a bottle of champagne or some Superbowl tickets for a multi-million-dollar contract in some exotic foreign land, that sort of thing is absolutely not on, and will cost you your job if not federal prison time.)

On the other hand, those rules were drafted back when America saw itself as qualitatively above the sordid corruption that less fortunate nations were mired in. Those days are as far gone as the drag clubs of Weimar Berlin.

Tim_Bisley@piefed.social on 07 Aug 20:43 collapse

The rules only apply to low paid employees. You bet your ass a regular federal employee could still be fired for receiving a free lunch.

the_q@lemmy.zip on 07 Aug 18:42 next collapse

Keep buying your Apple products, guys.

Grizzlyboy@lemmy.zip on 07 Aug 18:50 next collapse

Just for this everyone should reconsider buying any Apple products. Tim Apple is such a disgusting and nasty person, and then he started licking the predators ass. Fuck him and fuck American companies.

Sneptaur@pawb.social on 07 Aug 19:03 collapse

This would be a great idea if literally any other tech company were even slightly above such behavior. This is just what Capitalism is all about, baby. Corruption. Get used to it, because this isn’t changing until Americans revolt (culturally, violently, politically, economically? who knows) and that likely isn’t happening with this complacent and socially isolated of a populace

ch00f@lemmy.world on 07 Aug 19:05 next collapse

I personally vote for CEOs publicly embarrassing themselves in more and more degrading ways.

Rentlar@lemmy.ca on 07 Aug 19:25 next collapse

A few nice words and a $15 shiny object is all you need to curry favour with the current President.

Can someone ask him for free college education and healthcare in America, presenting him a golden stethoscope or golden book-shaped award?

grrgyle@slrpnk.net on 08 Aug 08:03 collapse

Honestly if the US actually had a left wing party that challenged the status quo, I’m sure he’s vapid enough that he might have tried to get his cult of personality going there.

I don’t think it would have gone well for him because he’s actually just a straight up shitty person, but I feel like for an obvious narcissist like him the party lines are just window dressing.

brucethemoose@lemmy.world on 09 Aug 03:18 collapse

100%.

Trump has had some Republican inclinations, but he could have absolutely been a leftist demagogue. Or any affiliation really.

Look how he tore through other Republicans like toilet paper.

abbiistabbii@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 07 Aug 19:31 next collapse

Hey, uh, what the fuck? Why the fuck are companies giving the President of the United States Golden statues like he’s some sort of Middle Eastern Dictator?

Jrockwar@feddit.uk on 07 Aug 19:39 next collapse

Because he might not be “Middle Eastern” or “Dictator” but he behaves exactly like “some sort of Middle Eastern Dictator”.

IndiBrony@lemmy.world on 07 Aug 20:46 collapse

Ey, relax guy!

hemmes@lemmy.world on 07 Aug 23:13 collapse

Hey, easy pal!

gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works on 08 Aug 11:22 collapse

I’m not your pal, buddy!

IndiBrony@lemmy.world on 08 Aug 12:04 collapse

He’s not your buddy, guy!

thermal_shock@lemmy.world on 07 Aug 19:45 next collapse

To ask for “favors” later. Clearly money sways him, he’s imposing tariffs on Brazil because “they’ve never been good to us”, meaning “they don’t give USA enough money”. It’s all about money and how he can get it into him and his pedo friends pockets.

Look at the plane he got, supposedly he’s taking it with him after office? I wish he’d just spontaneously explode during a meeting with his pedo buddies, taking them out too. Or on the plane and take them all out over the Pacific.

Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works on 07 Aug 21:31 next collapse

Honestly, I can’t say I blame them, if it works.

grrgyle@slrpnk.net on 08 Aug 07:55 collapse

I can blame them. It sets a very dangerous precedent and tacitly legitimises the maga party’s bad behaviour.

SexualPolytope@lemmy.sdf.org on 07 Aug 21:45 next collapse

Because he’s pretty much that. Idk about the middle eastern part. (Why did you even include that phrase, are you racist? There are dictators in Europe, South America, North America, all parts of Asia, idk how Australia is nowadays.)
But he’s definitely a dictator.

pivot_root@lemmy.world on 07 Aug 22:27 collapse

It’s a reference to South Park’s S27E01 episode.

ThinkBeforeYouPost@lemmy.world on 08 Aug 08:00 collapse

Don’t explain it to the AI, they’ll just use it against us.

captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works on 07 Aug 22:40 next collapse

Because he’s some sort of middle eastern dictator. Figurehead of a religion of intolerance and hatred, concerned almost entirely with wealth derived from fossil fuels, utterly irredeemable personality.

shawn1122@sh.itjust.works on 08 Aug 12:55 collapse

Considering this guy got re-elected, there may be some overlap with American qualities here.

lemmyknow@lemmy.today on 07 Aug 22:54 next collapse

Relax, guy

[deleted] on 07 Aug 23:00 collapse

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MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip on 08 Aug 08:44 next collapse

Rage bait much?

gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works on 08 Aug 11:25 next collapse

Frankly, it’s a shrewd strategy with regards to orangeboi. He’s easily distracted by shiny things and gifts, so give him a shiny gift. He has the attention span of a toddler, and he’s fairly easy to manipulate, if you operate within that context.

uienia@lemmy.world on 08 Aug 12:26 collapse

Because they know that that is really what he is. Everyone has him figured out now. That is why NATO and EU brownnoses him in front of journalists, or why Qatar “gifts” him an airplane.

brucethemoose@lemmy.world on 09 Aug 03:14 collapse

I think Zelensky has figured it out too, and got on good terms with him.

It’s really comical. It’s like the easiest diplomacy ever, within limits and until your enemy brownnoses too.

332@feddit.nu on 07 Aug 20:07 next collapse

Absolutely pathetic Tim. Pathetic.

apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world on 07 Aug 21:02 next collapse

Tim Cook is a piece of shit.

quantumcrop@lemmy.today on 07 Aug 22:20 next collapse

Has anyone seen Tim Cook and Bono in the same room?

lemmyknow@lemmy.today on 07 Aug 22:57 collapse

Well, idk. But Apple gave away U2 albums or whatever, dindey?

Plus, last I heard, Bono was dethroned as the record holder by some guy in a small city in, like, Colorado or something

GreenKnight23@lemmy.world on 07 Aug 23:03 collapse

any relation to Tim Apple?

Akasazh@feddit.nl on 07 Aug 21:46 next collapse

Tim Apple should try to ‘Think Different’

Treczoks@lemmy.world on 07 Aug 22:05 next collapse

Apple speaks Trump fluently.

MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz on 08 Aug 07:50 next collapse

Was the statue at least US made?

squaresinger@lemmy.world on 08 Aug 10:35 next collapse

No. Was cheaper do do it overseas.

pyre@lemmy.world on 08 Aug 23:48 next collapse

yea, sure, just like everything else… tell me though, is this US that “makes” things in here with us right now?

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works on 09 Aug 00:54 collapse

Allegedly the gold came from Utah, and the glass from somewhere else in the US.

whaleross@lemmy.world on 08 Aug 11:49 next collapse

It’s the other way around. Apple gave Trump a golden statue so he can kill off all their competitors. They no longer have to compete with their branding or products. It’s not smart, it’s just lazy, greedy and against any shred of decency. It’s not even capitalism, it’s plain corruption and proudly doing it in the open.

Soup@lemmy.world on 09 Aug 01:56 collapse

This is capitalism. In that system the money is the important part and so how you get it mostly doesn’t matter. Corruption is part of it, and they use the money to make sure the laws that would punish them don’t exist.

InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world on 09 Aug 03:11 collapse

For the class in the back cronyism is capitalism.

ToiletFlushShowerScream@lemmy.world on 08 Aug 12:01 next collapse

Bought my wife an Apple device a few years ago, now that m sickened that I helped pay for a small piece of this.

Jhex@lemmy.world on 08 Aug 12:02 next collapse

when i thought Apple couldn’t get less cool… they thought differently and proved me wrong

july@leminal.space on 08 Aug 14:22 next collapse

So they can’t donate more than 5$ to FreeBSD which is why their software exists but they make this POS for daddy trump?

some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org on 08 Aug 14:29 collapse

Why would a platform want a current version of Bash when they can switch to Zsh? /s

InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world on 09 Aug 03:10 collapse

Is that why the switched to zsh?

coriza@lemmy.world on 09 Aug 04:09 next collapse

Yes, because of bash license change from GPLv2 to GPLv3 apple refused to upgrade the bash version shipped with macos and kept it on v3.2 (last GPLv2) for like 10 years before eventually migrating to zsh

echindod@programming.dev on 09 Aug 04:12 collapse

I use to give people shit that the default ls command was from 2002. They finally fucking upgraded it in like 2020. But yeah. That’s some old fucking software.

some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org on 09 Aug 10:08 collapse

Yes, GPL reasons.

Jimmycakes@lemmy.world on 09 Aug 01:44 collapse

Tim Apple knows how to play the game and win

6nk06@sh.itjust.works on 09 Aug 03:29 collapse

He sure knows how to suck dicks. That’s not a win for democracy though.

MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca on 09 Aug 05:19 collapse

Democracy doesn’t get any wins anymore. That part of the voyage is over.