Apple might have discovered a new way to navigate the Trump trade war: to appeal to the president’s ego. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said Apple would avoid a pending 100 percent tariff on semiconductors. In effect, the tech giant sidestepped a potential increase in iPhone prices at a time when customers are already strapped across global markets. Reuters first reported that Apple received the waiver on the same day it pledged $100 billion more in US investments and delivered a one-of-a-kind, customized statue to Trump.

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, explained in a statement to CNBC that the statue was handcrafted by Corning, a company that has long supplied specialty glass for iPhones. The product was cut by a former US Marine Corps corporal and current Corning employee into a massive circle of clear glass. Within it, an oversized Apple logo looms menacingly in the center. Cook wrote that the glass circle was made in Utah and sits on a base made from 24-karat gold, with the president’s name engraved in it. Cook’s own finishing touch to the statue was a scribbled “Made in America.”

It’s clear from Trump’s response to the gift that it landed well. As Cook presented the gift in the Oval Office, Trump confirmed that Apple and “any company that’s building a plant in our country” would be exempt from paying a “charge” once the tariff on semiconductors is officially in place. The decision is a major reprieve for Apple, which has been subject to months of public pressure from Trump over its supply chain. But it is the latest round of wins for the tech giant after a volatile spring.

Trump had also repeatedly gone after Apple over its decision to shift production of some iPhones to India, rather than into the U.S. In April, he predicted his trade war would bring about a “Made in America” iPhone. And in May, Trump was more blunt, saying on a trip to the Middle East that he had “a little problem with Tim Cook.” Sources told Bloomberg that when speaking with Cook directly, Trump had said, “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.”

Trump’s trade team long seemed to be chasing fantasy, analysts said. Actually moving iPhone assembly to the U.S. would be a challenging long-term effort, if it’s possible at all. By May, the president’s team was at pains to suggest that it was achievable. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared on CNBC, where he floated the idea of “robotic arms” that could replicate the precision of Apple’s Chinese factories in America.

But Wednesday’s announcement also suggests the president has backed down on those early expectations. When Trump first threatened Apple with a 25 percent tariff, he explicitly stated that he wanted iPhones assembled in the U.S. For now, he has let up on that demand and appears satisfied with Apple’s statements about domestic production as a “significant step toward the ultimate goal of ensuring that iPhones sold in America also are made in America.”

Cook in the meantime has maintained that the iPhone’s semiconductors, glass, and Face ID components are manufactured in the U.S. Yet he gave no clear indication of when the final assembly would take place in the U.S., and only suggested that “we will continue to make the iPhone outside of the United States for a while.”

The playbook is not new. It is a formula Apple employed during Trump’s last term, one that usually involved Cook buttering the president up with US investment promises while brushing off his more aggressive demands. In 2017, Trump spoke about Apple’s plans to build three “big, beautiful” plants in the U.S. Apple ultimately opened one of them, which, instead of making iPhones, churned out face masks. In 2019, Trump visited a Texas plant where he was convinced iPhones would be made; Apple instead earmarked the plant for the production of MacBook Pros.

In a statement on Wednesday, Apple said it will invest $600 billion in the US over the next four years. Reuters’ analysts found the figure to be a non-starter, given that Apple tends to spend at that rate, and it lines up with promises from previous administrations, both Joe Biden’s and Trump’s first term. In other words, it’s unlikely that Apple is going beyond what it was already going to do.

Trump had previously said that companies that couldn’t produce results to match their promises would face retroactive tariffs. Apple’s immediate calculus on tariffs hasn’t changed, but Trump is letting the moment pass for now. And on Wall Street, Apple’s move was lauded. Nancy Tengler, CEO and CIO of Laffer Tengler Investments, which owns Apple shares, told Reuters that Apple’s investment represented “a savvy solution to the president’s demand that Apple manufacture all iPhones in the U.S.”

Cook’s carefully metered charm, his statuesque bluster, and Apple’s own investment in calculated pledges have bought the company some breathing room once again. In Trump’s messaging, the promise of “Made in America” is key, but Apple is poised to keep the most intricate parts of its production overseas while avoiding the cost of Trump’s tariffs.