Apple has apparently discovered a new way to cope with President Donald Trump’s trade war: by flattering the president. On Wednesday, Trump said that Apple would be exempted from a pending 100 percent tariff on semiconductors. The tariff would have increased the cost of iPhones all over the world. The exemption was reported by Reuters. It comes the same day that Apple promised Trump another $100 billion in U.S. investments and gifted him a one-of-a-kind statue with a Trump twist.

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, explained that the statue was created by Corning, a company that has worked with Apple on special glass for iPhones over the years. The item in question was cut into a large circle made of glass with a large Apple logo in the middle, explained Cook. A 24-karat gold base was engraved with Trump’s name. Cook added a message signed by himself that read “Made in America.”

Trump, who has spent his presidency goading corporations into making more products at home, seemed to hit the mark with the gift. During a presentation in the Oval Office, Trump said that Apple—and any other company that starts building factories in the U.S.—would pay “no charge” when tariffs on semiconductors are officially implemented. The news is a reprieve for Apple, which has been in the president’s crosshairs for months over its supply chain’s location.

Cook’s gesture also comes at the end of a challenging spring for Apple. In the last few months, Trump has publicly scolded Apple for sending some iPhone production to India rather than domesticating it in the U.S. In April, he said the trade war would result in “Made in America” iPhones. By May, his patience had clearly worn thin. While traveling in the Middle East, Trump openly noted that he had a “little problem with Tim Cook.” In private, according to a report, Trump told Cook directly, “We are treating you really good, we put up with all the plants you built in China for years. We are not interested in you building in India.”

In reality, analysts have long pointed out that moving iPhone assembly into the U.S. would be a major and lengthy project, if it were possible at all. Unconvinced, Trump’s administration advanced the case that it was both possible and already happening. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick even said Apple was working on “robotic arms” that could replicate China’s level of expertise on U.S. soil.

Cook’s Charm Offensive and Apple’s Big Pledge

Trump has apparently dialed back his expectations this week. Although he had once threatened Apple with a 25 percent tariff if it didn’t assemble its iPhones in the U.S., the president on Wednesday praised Apple’s latest moves as “a significant step toward the ultimate goal of ensuring that iPhones sold in America also are made in America.” The president also, for the moment, has backed away from a hard line. “They’re not going to be made in India,” Trump said of iPhones. “They may be made in other places, but they’re not going to be made in India.”

Cook, for his part, has also said that some components of the iPhone are already made domestically. These include semiconductors, glass, and Face ID modules, Cook said. But he was less direct when asked about when Apple might shift final assembly of iPhones to the U.S. rather than countries like China and India. “Probably for a while,” Cook said. “The big manufacturing is in other places, and we’re looking at ways to bring some of that here over time.”

Playing both sides with big pledges and symbolic gifts is a tactic Apple has run before. During Trump’s last term, Cook cozied up to the president with announcements of U.S. investment, while effectively ignoring his more incendiary demands. In 2017, Trump celebrated plans by Apple to open three “big, beautiful” plants in America. In the end, only one was built, and it made face masks. In 2019, Trump went to a plant in Texas that he promised could be used to make iPhones. Apple instead put the facility to work making MacBook Pros. Trump was left waiting for U.S.-made iPhones.

Apple has now said it plans to invest a total of $600 billion in the U.S. over the next four years. While that is a lot of money, experts told Reuters the figure was likely “consistent with Apple’s ongoing spending” and similar to what the company had already committed to spend during the Biden administration and Trump’s first term. In other words, the pledge might not be much more than Apple was already going to do.

Trump has said that any company that doesn’t come through on such promises could be hit with retroactive tariffs. But Apple, for now, is on track to continue its historical level of investment while keeping iPhone assembly abroad. The math on tariffs has not changed, but Trump has not forced the issue—at least for the moment.

Apple’s moves are seen by Wall Street as a smart bet. Nancy Tengler, CEO and CIO of Laffer Tengler Investments, which owns shares of Apple, told Reuters that Apple’s actions were “a savvy solution to the president’s demand that Apple manufacture all iPhones in the U.S.”

Cook’s combination of charm, symbols, and strategically tailored investments has once again given Apple breathing room in the trade war. Trump can still claim progress toward “Made in America” iPhones. But Apple seems set to keep its most complicated manufacturing operations overseas—without the threat of punitive tariffs hanging over it.