Jun 19, 2017 - Politics & Policy

Tim Cook to Trump: put "more heart" in immigration debate

Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP

Apple CEO Tim Cook told Donald Trump on Monday that he hoped the president would put "more heart" into the immigration debate, according to a source familiar with the meeting. His comment came at the end of a meeting with tech CEOs after Trump used the same phrase in reference to the debate over healthcare. The New York Times' Maggie Haberman was the first to report on the conversation, which a source had confirmed to Axios.How it happened: Tech leaders met at the White House on Monday to talk about modernizing government technology, with a meeting with Trump capping off the gathering. Trump told the executives that he had instructed Senate Republicans to put "more heart" into their coming health care bill, the source said. The Associate Press reported last week that Trump had called the House healthcare bill "mean" and told GOP senators to be "more generous" with their bill.Cook echoed his phrasing back to him, saying he hoped that Trump would put "more heart" into the equally-contentious debate over immigration. The executive mentioned the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the fate of which under Trump remains unclear, and said that some employees in the tech industry felt targeted by the administration's actions on immigration, even if that wasn't the White House's intent.Trump's response: Our source says Trump told the executives to talk to their elected representatives and mentioned the need for comprehensive immigration reform. He has previously floated — and then backed off — the idea of an immigration deal. The White House and Apple declined to comment.

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