Apple has discovered a new way to play the president’s trade war — by flattering Donald Trump. On Wednesday, the president announced that Apple would be exempt from a pending 100 percent tariff on semiconductors, sparing the iPhone maker a penalty that could have dramatically increased prices around the world. The exemption, first reported by Reuters, was announced on the same day that Apple announced $100 billion more in U.S. investments, and brought the president a one-of-a-kind, personalized statue.

The statue, Apple CEO Tim Cook explained, was made by Corning, an Apple supplier that produces specialty glass for iPhones. It was designed by an “anonymous” former U.S. Marine Corps corporal now working at Apple and cut into a large glass circle bearing a bold Apple logo in the center. Cook said the statue came from Utah, “mounted on a 24 karat gold base that’s engraved with our president’s name,” before finishing the presentation with a personally signed message: “Made in America.”

Trump, who has spent months pressuring companies to build more products in the U.S., seemed to get the symbolism. After a brief presentation in the Oval Office, Trump confirmed that Apple (and, by extension, any company that opens U.S. factories) would see “no charge” when tariffs on semiconductors go into effect. The announcement is a big win for Apple, which has been on Trump’s public tariff list for months, as the president berated it over the location of its supply chain.

The latest development is the result of a turbulent spring. Trump had previously slammed Apple for moving portions of its iPhone production to India rather than the U.S. In April, he declared that his trade policies would lead to “Made in America” iPhones. By May, his exasperation was on display, with Trump saying he had “a little problem with Tim Cook” in remarks to reporters as he traveled in the Middle East. As reported, he called the CEO directly as well, telling him, “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.”

Analysts have long noted that moving iPhone assembly to the U.S. would be an undertaking of a very different scale and complexity, and could take years — if it can be done at all. Trump’s administration continued to press the line that such a move was within reach. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested that Apple was looking at using “robotic arms” that could do the delicate work of the company’s Chinese factories.

Cook’s public charm offensive may have put Trump on notice, but it hasn’t stopped him from trumpeting the president’s words. “Apple will be moving significant portions of its business to the U.S.,” Trump said Wednesday. “This will be a big and significant step toward the ultimate goal of ensuring that iPhones sold in America also are made in America.” For the moment, he has backed off the hard line.

Cook, meanwhile, has confirmed that certain iPhone parts — including semiconductors, glass, and Face ID modules — are already made in the U.S. But he offered no clear timeline for when final assembly might be shifted to the U.S. and noted that such work would remain overseas “for a while.”

Apple has been here before. During Trump’s last term, Cook repeatedly won over the president by promising to invest in the U.S. while deflecting the president’s more hardline demands. In 2017, Trump claimed to have three “big, beautiful” plants coming to America. Only one would be built, and it was to make face masks, not consumer electronics. In 2019, he made the rounds at a Texas plant that was supposedly ready to make iPhones, only to see Apple assign it to MacBook Pro production.

Apple has now promised an additional $600 billion in U.S. investments over the next four years, a pledge that analysts told Reuters is in line with the company’s standard levels of spending and tracks with past commitments from both Biden and Trump’s first term. That is, Apple may not be going significantly beyond what it was already going to do.

Trump has warned that any company that doesn’t follow through on such promises could retroactively face tariffs. But Apple is in a position to continue with the spending it was planning before Trump took office and keep iPhone assembly overseas. The math on tariffs is the same, and, at least for now, Trump has elected not to hold the line.

Wall Street, for its part, views the Apple development as a win for the company. Nancy Tengler, the CEO and CIO of Laffer Tengler Investments, which owns Apple shares, told Reuters that the company’s approach amounts to “a savvy solution to the president’s demand that Apple manufacture all iPhones in the U.S.”

Cook has found that he can use a combination of charm, symbolic gestures, and time-tested Apple investment pledges to secure breathing room in the trade war. Trump may continue to speak in “Made in America” terms, but Apple is already making it clear that its most advanced manufacturing will remain far from U.S. soil.