In a Tuesday interview with the “Wall Street Journal,” President Trump said that Apple CEO Tim Cook has committed to building three “big plants, beautiful plants.”
They won’t.
Bloomberg points out that Apple doesn’t build or operate factories. Their products are outsourced to manufacturers overseas. “Apple made itself an American success story by helping to create one of the world’s most intricate manufacturing and production networks —in Asia, owned and operated by Apple’s corporate partners in Asia, employing people in Asia,” wrote reporter Shira Ovide. “This won’t change by U.S. presidential decree.”
Cook did not comment.
On Wednesday, Trump did announce that Foxconn will invest $10 billion in an manufacturing facility in Wisconsin. They will make screens for cars, health-care and other electronic devices, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said. He added that the plant is expected to add 3,000 jobs. According to CNBC, Foxconn had been looking to build a U.S. facility for years.
But Foxconn is not Apple, and one is not three. Additionally, Foxconn will not be working with Apple. “This potential future factory won’t be making Apple products, however, even if it does one day materialize,” wrote Bloomberg’s Ovide. “Foxconn hasn’t followed through on previous pledges to invest millions to create U.S. jobs.”
On the campaign trail, Trump took Apple to task for making so many products overseas.
Trump has made several claims about saving and attracting jobs, particularly manufacturing positions. Most have been debunked. Several have been directly contradicted as companies where Trump claimed to have saved jobs, through visits or deals, have begun layoffs and to move jobs overseas. Among them: Carrier, Ford, Boeing and, most recently, Harley-Davidson.
On June 2, Trump claimed to have created 1 million private-sector jobs. This is untrue. Official government data shows that only 601,000 jobs have been added since Trump took office in January.
