President Donald Trump is known to be tech-savvy, creating news almost every time he tweets using his iPhone. Now it is being reported that he uses an iPad as well for reading, and he calls this Apple product “the flat one.”
Why is the iPad “the flat one”?
It’s evident that President Trump is an Apple fan from the choice of his devices. He is known to carry a pair of iPhones, and now an iPad as well. The news of Trump using an iPad comes from ABC White House Correspondent Tara Palmeri, who revealed this little secret when responding to a tweet that President Trump does not use a computer.
In a tweet, Palmeri said, “Sometimes Trump reads things on an iPad that he calls ‘the flat one.’”
The phrase “the flat one” may have come up when Trump have asked for a computer, and someone from the staff handed him a laptop, to which he may have replied “not this, but the flat one.” It is just a speculation, but the fact that he uses an iPad sometimes to read comes as a surprise. Previous reports suggested that Trump asks his staff to print online articles for him to read.
What doesn’t come as a surprise is the use of an iPad for reading. The device is easy to use, easier to carry and weighs less than notebook computers. Additionally, unlike some politicians, President Trump has no issue using Apple products. In fact, he has at least two iPhones: one for firing off tweets and the other for voice calls.
President Trump and his use of computers
President Trump’s use of a computer has been a highlight this week. The issue came up after he slammed Google for rigging search results against him. On Tuesday, he attacked Google for using its search dominance to suppress the “voices of conservatives and hiding information and news that is good.” Google, on its end, denied the accusation.
After Trump’s accusation, questions about if President Trump used Google himself started pouring in. Though President Trump is an avid tweeter, he is not known to be a computer user. New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted that Trump does not use a computer, and “someone is doing the googling but not him.”
Lately, Trump has been lashing out at big tech companies, including Google and Amazon. The president used to criticize Apple as well, but after his meeting with CEO Tim Cook and Apple’s commitment to spend hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S. to create jobs, among other things, Trump has been praising the iPhone maker.
Trump’s take on Apple is also now being reflected in his choice of devices, which now include two iPhones and an iPad. Before becoming president, Trump used an Android phone from Samsung.
Will Trump put Apple at risk?
President Trump may have become an Apple fan, but Apple could be the biggest loser if his trade war with China escalates. Apple earns about 21% of its sales from Greater China, and most of its iPhones are assembled in China. According to a Reuters analysis in January, about $15.7 billion of the U.S.-China merchandise trade deficit in 2017 was attributed to iPhones.
So far, Trump has kept phones off the tariff list, partly due to the personal lobbying by CEO Cook, says CFRA analyst Angelo Zino, according to CNBC. Even for President Trump, it would be seen as a big move to put Apple at trade risk. So far, U.S. tariffs have been imposed on only $100 billion worth of goods, a small amount for a country with an annual import bill of $2.5 trillion.
“I don’t want to say anyone is immune, but if anyone has Trump’s ear right now it’s Tim Cook,” Zino said. “I think [Trump] will try to avoid hurting the company directly. It’s probably the most important U.S.-based [manufacturer] on the planet.”
Apple was among the biggest losers when China’s market crashed a few years ago. The iPhone maker lost about a fourth of its value over the uncertain Chinese market. Despite the loss then, Apple went on to become the first U.S. company to hit a $1 trillion valuation.