By Alex Samuels, Texas Tribune
President Donald Trump will head to Austin Wednesday to accompany Apple CEO Tim Cook on a tour of company facilities, a White House official confirmed to The Texas Tribune.
According to the official, Trump will tour a new Apple manufacturing plant and tout the company’s recent expansion, which includes the creation of thousands of new jobs. Cook and Trump will join U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Director of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow, son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump on the visit.
While on the tour, Trump, Cook and the administration officials will hear from Apple employees about how the products are assembled at the Austin facility. News of the upcoming trip was first reported by Reuters on Tuesday.
In September, Tech giant Apple announced it would manufacture its latest line of Mac Pro computers in Austin rather than China, avoiding some China tariffs. At the time, Cook thanked the administration for “enabling this opportunity.”
“We’re building the Mac Pro — Apple’s most powerful computer ever — right here in Austin because we believe in the power of American innovation. Like every product we make, the Mac Pro is designed and engineered in the U.S., and we’re proud to support 2.4 million jobs across the nation,” Cook said in a statement Saturday.
Apple’s presence is well-known in Austin. It announced late last year plans for a massive expansion of its facilities in the capital city. The move, it said, would make Apple the largest private employer in Austin. Its newest campus — located less than a mile from existing Austin facilities — will have the capacity to expand to around 15,000 employees.
The trip is Trump’s second to Texas since the U.S. House launched an impeachment inquiry. The president visited Dallas for a reelection rally in October.
