Apple's Tim Cook: "We Are Not A Monopoly"

Apple CEO Tim Cook opened up about his own personal screen time, his relationship with President Donald Trump, the potential impact of the U.S. trade war with China on the company and more, in an interview with incoming CBS EVENING NEWS anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell broadcast tonight on the CBS Television Network. Cook spoke to O’Donnell in an exclusive interview after his keynote address at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference.

Cook told O’Donnell he strongly disagreed with Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) calls to break up Apple.

“I think some people would argue, if you are selling a good, then you can’t have a product that competes with that good. That’s an argument more that takes you down the path that Walmart shouldn’t be stocking alternative or house brand. And so this is decades of U.S. law here. And we’ll be – we’ll tell our story to anybody that we need to or that wants to hear it,” Cook said.

Asked if Apple was too big, Cook said, “We are not a monopoly.”

Cook told O’Donnell he engages with the president regularly.

“I do. And I’m proud to,” Cook said. “I mean, because I don’t believe in the ‘I disagree with you, and so I don’t want to have anything to do with you.’ The way you stop the polarization is to talk. This is sort of like step one. And I don’t want to be part of the problem. I want to be part of the solution.”

Cook also said the threat of a 25% tariff from the U.S. and China trade war could hurt sales.

“Sure it would. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen. The truth is, the iPhone is made everywhere. It’s made everywhere. And so – a tariff on the iPhone would hurt all of those countries, but the one that would be hurt the most is this one,” Cook said.

On his own screen time, Cook said he monitors it regularly and has cut back reaching for his iPhone.



“I’m saying we made the phone not so that you’ll use it all the time,” Cook said. “We made the phone to make your life better. But for me, my simple rule is if I’m looking at the device more than I’m looking into someone’s eyes, I’m doing the wrong thing.”

O’Donnell will assume her new role at the CBS EVENING NEWS later this summer. An Emmy Award-winning journalist and leading interviewer, O’Donnell remains committed to delivering original reporting and newsmaking conversations for all CBS News broadcasts and platforms ahead of the launch.