Apple CEO Tim Cook attended a White House dinner that U.S. President Donald Trump arranged for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, reports The New York Times.
The dinner marked Prince Mohammed's first visit to the United States since the October 2018 murder of author and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency determined that the prince ordered the killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Ahead of the dinner, U.S. President Donald Trump defended the prince and said "A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about," when responding to a question from a reporter that asked about Khashoggi.
Cook previously met Prince Mohammed in April 2018 to discuss education and app development opportunities in Saudi Arabia. Apple has since invested $2 billion in Saudi Arabian companies, and Cook last visited the country in December 2024.
Apple launched an online store in Saudi Arabia in July 2025, and it plans to open retail locations in the country in 2026.
Other tech attendees included X CEO Elon Musk, Dell CEO Michael Dell, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and AMD CEO Linda Su.
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Back to the Khashoggie garbage.. The news is just like a hamster wheel going round and round.
Yeah, he was dismembered with a bone saw. The CIA said the prince was the orchestrator of the killing. But, what the hell? Trump wants more money and doesn't care who gets hurt.
Quick, everyone lose your minds! A CEO is going to the White House to represent his company!
(Make sure you downvote this as clearly it is a very egregious comment)
Quick, make a ridiculous comment to paint everyone who doesn't agree with me as stupid!
There is no real need to go to the White House to represent your company. At least, there shouldn't be, but these CEOs have made it so that it has become a necessity under Trump. If you're not going to kiss Trump's ass, his administration will come after you and your company. They enabled him.
You know what, let's assume that there is an actual reason to go to the White House to represent your company. Fine. What reason is there to keep donating millions to Trump? What reason is there to give him made up awards just to stroke his ego?