--- title: Donald Trump Attacks Apple for Making iPhones in China description: Republican candidate promises to drag production back to the U.S. canonical: https://time.com/4184868/donald-trump-apple-iphone-china/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-19T13:32:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:43.311Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Attacks Apple for Making iPhones in China og:description: Republican candidate promises to drag production back to the U.S. og:url: https://time.com/4184868/donald-trump-apple-iphone-china/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt263da2666baace8e/69887995ab6d7741f86a8036/donald-trump-apple-us-made.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5162 og:image:height: 2904 og:image:alt: Donald Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Attacks Apple for Making iPhones in China twitter:description: Republican candidate promises to drag production back to the U.S. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt263da2666baace8e/69887995ab6d7741f86a8036/donald-trump-apple-us-made.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Attacks Apple for Making iPhones in China > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Dan Primack / Fortune](https://time.com/author/fortune/) ## Dan Primack / Fortune Fortune Jan 19, 2016 1:32 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign stop at Concord High School on Jan. 18, 2016, in Concord, N.H. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign stop at Concord High School on Jan. 18, 2016, in Concord, N.H. John Minchillo—AP by [Dan Primack / Fortune](https://time.com/author/fortune/) ## Dan Primack / Fortune Fortune Jan 19, 2016 1:32 PM UTC Donald Trump has a message for Tim Cook: If elected, you’re going to begin making all of your devices in the United States. The Republican front-runner made the boast on Monday near the end of a speech at Liberty University in Virginia ([video here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSAyOlQuVX4), comments just after 1:07 mark): --- > “” --- Trump has regularly bashed U.S. companies for manufacturing their products elsewhere. A regular target ― including in his Monday speech ― has been Ford Motor Co., with Trump threatening a 35% import tariff on any cars made in Mexico (while simultaneously calling himself a “free trader”). But this seems to be the first time Apple has entered his crosshairs, and Trump provided no suggestions for how he would convince Tim Cook to abandon his company’s primary manufacturing base. Then again, it’s also unclear how a president ― any president ― would unilaterally impose a 35% tariff. _This_ [_article_](http://fortune.com/2016/01/18/donald-trump-says-hell-make-apple-stop-making-iphones-in-china/) _originally appeared on_ [_Fortune.com_](http://fortune.com/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4184868/donald-trump-apple-iphone-china/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4184868/donald-trump-apple-iphone-china/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Attacks Apple for Making iPhones in China","datePublished":"2016-01-19T13:32:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:43.311Z","description":"Republican candidate promises to drag production back to the U.S.","url":"https://time.com/4184868/donald-trump-apple-iphone-china/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt263da2666baace8e/69887995ab6d7741f86a8036/donald-trump-apple-us-made.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Primack / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt263da2666baace8e/69887995ab6d7741f86a8036/donald-trump-apple-us-made.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump","caption":"Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign stop at Concord High School on Jan. 18, 2016, in Concord, N.H. 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