Silicon Valley chiefs frozen out of President Trump’s White House

112 Comments

“In President-elect Donald J. Trump’s newly named kitchen cabinet of business advisers, Wall Street is in. Silicon Valley is out,” Michael J. de la Merced reports for The New York Times.Mr. Trump has named 16 business leaders to serve on what’s being called the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum, described as a group meant to guide his administration on economic matters.”

“The list echoes Mr. Trump’s picks for a number of major economic positions, including Treasury secretary (the former Goldman Sachs partner and hedge fund manager Steven T. Mnuchin) and commerce secretary (the billionaire investor Wilbur L. Ross),” de la Merced reports. “Given his long experience as a New York real estate investor, Mr. Trump’s selections may not come as a surprise.”

“It is a bipartisan list, nonetheless, with a number of members who traditionally have favored Democratic candidates, including Laurence D. Fink of the asset management colossus BlackRock, Mary T. Barra of General Motors and Robert Iger of Walt Disney,” de la Merced reports.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump
“‘This forum brings together C.E.O.s and business leaders who know what it takes to create jobs and drive economic growth,’ Mr. Trump said in a statement. ‘My administration is committed to drawing on private sector expertise.’ The group is expected to meet with Mr. Trump monthly. The first meeting will be at the White House in early February.”

“Aside from Virginia M. Rometty of IBM, there is hardly any representation of technology companies, and certainly none from Silicon Valley,” de la Merced reports. “Perhaps that’s unsurprising, given Mr. Trump’s slim public support in the Bay Area… Indeed, many Silicon Valley luminaries have opposed Mr. Trump since the presidential campaign. Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, was an enthusiastic supporter of both Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: The price of putting all of your eggs in the wrong basket.

We bet Tim Cook is glad today that he hosted that GOP fundraiser with House Speaker Paul Ryan back in June.

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Under President Trump, Obama ally Google may face policy setbacks, including roll back of so-called ‘net neutrality’ rules – November 18, 2016
Apple could make iPhones in the U.S.A. under President Trump, sources say – November 17, 2016
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Morgan Stanley: Apple stands to benefit the most from President Trump’s corporate tax plans – November 11, 2016
Apple CEO Tim Cook smartly maintained ties to GOP ahead of Trump victory – November 9, 2016
Silicon Valley donated 60 times more to Clinton than to Trump – November 7, 2016
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Apple CEO Tim Cook presses for U.S. corporate tax reform, says no repatriation without fair rate – August 15, 2016
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Apple CEO Cook to host Paul Ryan fundraiser as company tries to strengthen relationships with key Republicans – June 20, 2016
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112 Comments

        3. Actually it’s great being left and lost. Now I can mock the sh!t out of your bafoon president for 4-8 years, instead of defending the good and bad of my president. Defending Hilary’s gender against you fuks would have been so draining.

          Trump has already pledged to lowering corporate / private taxes. As long as he can start a couple of wars and build out a whole new giant federal branch, he’ll be as good as bush junior and we can celebrate with another depression when he moves along.

          But that’s ok, I’ll still have a great job making a huge salary, just like last time. But all the poor fuks in the south are going to get raped even harder than last time. Oh well, they voted him in. Like all his Goldman Sachs caliber nominations are going to create good jobs for you. Nope. Only jobs that they care about are service jobs, because they need their slaves.

          Oh yes, losing rocks. Gonna be a great few years.

    3. We tried it your way and it SUCKED. Thanks to Demoncrats this country is no longer tops in education, science, technology, manufacturing or anything else.

      Americans took our country back from the whining, safespace, crayon, hot cocoa useless liberals.

      Libtards our out, get used to it.

      Reply

      1. As a Canadian, I can say that the spectacle that the Trump supporters made over the last two years, it is obvious to the world where the seat of ignorance lies. Although I am not a Liberal nor a Conservative, the fault for the inability for Yankees to recognize and retain truth is largely with the Trump supporters with Kellyanne Conway as the leader of twisting the truth.

        Reply

        1. You’re blind and either stupid or brainwashed.

          Kellyanne Conway Would Be A Feminist Hero If She Were A Democrat

          Modern-day feminists are still wringing out their “I’m With Her” crying towels and snubbing Conway’s historic victory because, well, she’s a Republican.

          Without any sense of irony, they ignore the achievements of a self-made woman (Conway), while lamenting the loss of a candidate who earned fame and power largely because of her husband. If she were a Democrat, Conway would be the toast of women’s groups across the country, feted in the media, splashed across the pages of Vogue and Cosmo. She would be touted as a future candidate herself. Maybe even Lena Dunham would’ve thrown out a tweet or two after her Election Night shower-cry.

          But I suspect there’s even more to this than partisan politics. After all, you can’t accuse a man of misogyny—which literally means “hatred of women”—if he puts a female in charge of the riskiest, most important endeavor of his life. Trump can’t be a sexist pig who hates women if he fires two men and replaces them with a woman, right? Acknowledging, even celebrating, Conway’s success would undermine that entire plotline.

          More: Kellyanne Conway Would Be A Feminist Hero If She Were A Democrat

        2. Well, son. If the Federalist is your go to source, you are the one who is stupid and/or brainwashed. Note: I only use these words because you did. Otherwise, I might have said: “A perfect example of the Dunning Kruger effect.”

        4. What is it with you and the name calling? Big articulate tough guy who thinks quick, has a huge file of sarcastic put downs and an internet connection.

          I assume you remember what happened to the Democrats in 2010. Get ready. So far all the orange man has proven is he is filling the swamp with a different kind of putrid rotting political and Wall Street flesh.

        6. BTW Botty, I couldn’t care less what choice names you call me. You know so little about me and what you think you know, as reflected by your penchant for applying labels you think will antagonize me, is so off base it’s beyond funny. You usually hook people here with your bait and doing that does cull the herd, but to refrain from over estimating yourself. You will lose your leadership position with your gang if you do.

        15. Also, remember that Trump was elected by a minority of the people. About 46% of voters. He’s Mr. 46%.
          Here’s Trump compared with past losers:
          Nixon 1960: 49.55%
          Gore 2000: 48.38%
          Kerry 2004: 48.26%
          Ford 1976: 48.01%
          Romney 2012: 47.15%
          Trump 2016: 46.17%

        18. You do not know us. You do not understand us. You cannot comprehend what makes us Americans. To begin with, it would never occur to me to go to a website populated by Canadians and proceed to tell you what is wrong with your country. It is none of my business. You are good people, meaning that you generally go about your business and leave the rest of us alone. That’s all I care about.

          Since you’ve come to offer your ignorance on America, allow me to provide you with one piece of information to take away. The character of our nation surpasses the character of most, including your own. The majority of our people are not boisterous ignoramuses as you may have seen paraded on your media, complaining about the President Elect.

          We are quiet and dignified, and seek to preserve the best of our culture including our preference for freedom above all other socio-political tenets. We believe in personal responsibility and the value of the individual. We are not collectivists like you. We do not wish to see our nation turned into one of public dependency, which seems to be your way, as well as many European nations.

          We clearly see right and wrong in the world, and are willing to stand up to wrong wherever it rises.

          Again, freedom is more important to us than you can comprehend. Please know that in the event that someone tries to take even your freedom away, Americans will offer their lives to help you because that is the kind of people we are.

          As far as twisting the truth, you do not know the truth of America. You don’t even come close. You only know what your tired and stale political viewpoint and your media tell you.

        21. You may be “quiet and dignified.” But, if so, you would be one of the very few on this forum. That would certainly not apply to botty or Fwhatever or their following of anonymous posters like “kent”, if those are not simply alter egos of those guys.

          You must be blind. These guys *do* tell other countries what is wrong with them. The character of our nation is not nearly as good as you would like to believe. Many of our citizens are ignoramuses who believe the crap that the political system is feeding them. Your definition of “right” and “wrong” may be wildly different than that of others.

          I suspect that most Europeans know more about American history than our own citizens.

        23. As a Canadian, I’d like to offer my apologies for my fellow Canadian’s disgusting display of arrogance and ignorance. I am extremely proud that our country has a deep and abiding friendship with the United States. I have many family and friends there. And what you say is true; it’s America that is still the shining example of freedom and individual responsibility. The American Constitution is an amazing document and still a measure of human advancement. May Canadians, especially our current government recognise and appreciate that fact.

    6. Regardless of what one thinks of Trump, this is a stupid move by him. A huge part of the economy is tech/silicon valley and it is only going to continue to grow in significance. Tech is not only in and of itself a huge business, but drives the business of all other industries. All industries are transformed by technology these days.

      If a country wants to lead the world they have to lead in tech.

      To not have any of the leading voices of tech in the room is a display of ignorance.

      Reply

      1. Those tech weasels should have just stayed neutral, but by getting in bed with The Bitch of Benghazi they sealed their fate. But I imagine our new President will eventually allow them to come crawling to him on their slimy liberal bellies and kiss his ring.

        And I’m sure they will, including that Alabama Belle of the Balls sissy Cook. It’s sickening to think of Timmy sitting on the throne in that awesome spaceship campus when it should have been Steve.

        Reply

        1. …in a New York minute…those American IT graduate kids that have busted their asses getting though Stanford and MIT won’t have to worry about fighting for a job from Oh! Calcutta! for a contracted lower wage and zero benefits.

          They’re done.

          Cook is done.

          Until Cook is gone, fuck Apple.

    7. MDN, would you please censor hateful and disrespectful speech on this site? Botvinnik is turning it into Trump Daily News, and making it the mouthpiece of the white supremacy party, who refer to themselves as euphemistically as the “alt-right”. But the are basically just modern day Nazis.

      Why don’t you fascist posters find your own forum ?

      Reply

    8. There is a reason that conservatives are called “The Right” and has a elephant as a mascot liberals are called “libtards” and have a jackass as a mascot.

      You, are that reason.

      Reply

      2. So what you’re saying is that you have no clue why the bipolar American political spectrum is referred to as left and right. It has nothing to do with being correct. Big hint: study the French revolution. You will see how twisted Americans have revised their political compass. If the greatest of US presidents — Washington, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, or Eisenhower, were alive today, they would be screamed down from the extremists on the right for being too liberal. The current democrats, most of them puppets of the same corporations that control the gop, have essentially the same platform as Nixon did.

        Thanks to decades of fear mongering, media shallowness, and social platforms that amplify extreme biases rather than apply simple factchecking and spam controls has produced a planet full of people who cannot quantify risk or understand complex realities. The world today is gripped by the same irrational fears that were used as justification for some pretty ghasty shit through history, and if mankind can’t relearn moderation and civility and empathy, then we will repeat the expensive errors and likely bankrupt ourselves. Tough talk from arrogant posters here and their fact-free hero Trump drives conflict, not prosperity.

        Hey Trump, you say the election was rigged. Show us how and where. And since you know it was rigged, why aren’t you supporting a recount?

        Reply

    1. yeah , i remember reading about when another right wing populist from austria got elected, back in about 1933.

      that didn’t work out so well….. for quite a few million people.

      Reply

        4. just a friendly reminder of the lessons history has to teach.

          which is to say, there are nut jobs all along the political spectrum, from left to right, and what you get may not always be what you expect.

        5. We knew exactly what we would get from Hillary and people would rather have a root canal than more of the same.

          People have voted for anything but Hillary.

          He won, she lost. End of story.

  6. SV bet on the wrong horse and lost. Lost BIG.

    Bottom line is that people were tired of 8 years of Bush, so they voted for Hope and Change. After 8 years of no hope and no change, people were tired of the same old, same old.

    Along comes Hillary with her dirty political baggage and people said they didn’t want 8 more years of Hope and Change and wanted something else.

    In 8 years after Trump terms out, the people will swing back to the other side and so it goes. We swing from left to right, left to right.

    Reply

  11. We ain’t seen nothing yet. The end of Net Neutrality, Trump’s Enemies List will be miles longer than Nixon’s was. Think you’re safe? Mistaken identity, hacking, just use your imaginations. And I am no conspiracy theorist, to put it mildly… but the writing’s on the wall. This was s a VERY AGGRESSIVE CANCER ON US ALL.

    Reply

    1. You don’t have “Net Neutrality” now, so it can’t be ended. The farce they call “Net Neutrality” will be ended. Lesson for Oblahblah: If it ain’t broke, don’t try to “fix” it with the one wrong answer you stupidly use for everything: Centralized Big Government.

      47 DAYS, 4 HOURS, 50 MINUTES, 30 SECONDS.

      Reply

    1. So much for trying to unite the country…being a president for all people, even those who opposed him.

      And Silicon Valley did not F** Trump; they made choices, they voted, they gave dollars, etc. They exercised their rights as citizens in a democracy.

      Now who is to say that at least some of those Silicon Valley leaders did not want to serve on any committee led by Trump and associate with him?

      Reply

        1. I see that you are newly energised, and are enjoying the carnage and the payback. I’d have expected nothing less. And Trump, flushed with victory, is doubling down on his primitive tenets of governance. I expected that too, although he does qualify as a loose cannon and conceivably could force all of us to revise our “expectations”; after the smoke clears, he may turn out to be another Lincoln; still, the Vegas odds of that occurring are vanishingly small, as might be expected; the odds-makers are all men.

          Men are predictable. As victors, crowing like roosters, they will exact revenge, reward supporters and threaten deserters, loot the treasury and roll back privileges for those of lesser class status. They will aggressively advance their interests and stymie those of their supposed inferiors. They will wage war for glory and retribution, and sneer at the consequences for those under their protection. And they will expect their women to respond with admiration and excited passion for their vainglorious deeds, and discard them in favour of captured females if they blanch.

          There remains that troubling Bill of Rights, particularly the second amendment. You can replace all the judges, but you’d need to deploy a mammoth paramilitary force to collect all the guns that are out there in this sprawling democracy. Alexander the Great didn’t have quite this dilemma. Just saying.

        2. “Men are predictable. As victors, crowing like roosters…”

          While the female candidate gets to eat crow?

          This election has nothing to do with gender or race or anything else but the choice of the American people to take back their liberty from a globalist agenda that has forsaken the Constitution.

          I am mildly disappointed that you see it as something as banal and trite as a misogyny/androgyny CNN masturbation fest.

        3. further, as a testament to the sexless, raceless nature of the inherent love of liberty in human beings:

          “The EU is deeply harmful, it is an anti-democratic monster. I want to prevent it from becoming fatter, from continuing to breathe, from grabbing everything with its paws and from extending its tentacles into all areas of our legislation. In our glorious history, millions have died to ensure that our country remains free. Today, we are simply allowing our right to self-determination to be stolen from us.”

          – Marine Le Pen

        4. It is the age-old fight against tyranny, do you advocate with your ovaries or your skin color or with your heart & mind?

          Sure, I am perceived as a rooster crowing for our victory, but not because I am arrogant or I am a male, it is because I want the filth of this globalist tyranny that has infested itself in the American model since the death of John Kennedy. I want it stomped out for my children and grandchildren.

        5. Relax, botvinnik. I was acting. I am not as high-minded as all that. At the end of the day, what matters is who is coming to confiscate what is yours, to threaten your family’s tranquillity, to enslave you. Who that is must be opposed.

        7. Educate “Yourself” why don’t you….? blue, white, brown, burnt umber, teal, gay, straight of whatever gender you can dream up…… THIS IS AMERICA… WE HAVE A CONSTITUTION.. AND A BILL OF RIGHTS… For a reason…. MmmmmK Herself?

          What type of degree do you possess? iPonder you were given a trophy just for showing up.
          I will gladly give you my bank routing number so that you can directly deposit your earnings (welfare check) into my account.

          As far as AHCA? Affordable?! gmafb….Please describe in detail what is “SO AFFORDABLE” about this “MANDATE”. Get a clue. The audacity of your deplorable Herself sickness MY country.
          What part of “WE THE PEOPLE” don’t you understand? This has NOTHING to do about race and or racism. This is about taking our country back from the self serving “ELITISTS”; aka the den of thieves on BOTH sides who squander TRILLIONS of dollars to undeserving whiners like yourself, who feel they are entitled to OTHER PEOPLES HARD EARNED INCOME. So in closing, STFU. Trump won.

          ps. Guns DO NOT kill people. PEOPLE DO.

          pps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTMxfAkxfQ0 ……”MAYBE”, Just “Maybe” your little entitlement mind just may learn a thing or two. Have a Grateful Day.

          Some people you just can’t reach.

        8. I don’t disagree with what you say, except for your assumptions that I am pro-welfare state, anti-gun, corporatist and elitist. I am not. What I like to whine about is not those policies and practices but the behaviour of people who take sides about them. In short, I prefer less acrimony and more persuasion in such debates. If I am unrealistic, it is mostly in believing that even-keeled, civil discourse is still possible. By the way, I’ve always enjoyed your comments. They have an unmistakeable style. 🤤

    2. What a great summary of what’s go come in the Trump presidency. ‘They F’d him, he F’d them’. That’s what I call the worst, the most juvenile of humanity at work F’ing itself into oblivion. The idiocracy thinks that’s a good thing. Obviously, I don’t. I grew up.

      Reply

  13. I use to visit this site several times a day but after realizing that the site’s founders are super pro Trumo (who lost the popular vote by over 2.4 million people and counting) and who is a fascist racist myspginist and totally unqualified to be president and one whom Steve Jobs would be totally in opposition with ,I willl not be visiting this site anymore. I know many others who are not also. And for those who continue to call others deragotoy names they should realize the company they love so much (Apple) is situated in the most liberal state in the Union and it’s most powerful economically and one in which Trumo lost by 29% of the vote.

    Enjoy catering to the Trumo supporters MDN

    Reply

    4. Steve Jobs would have loathed Trump. Steve was very progressive in his politics, and would have been horrified at Trump’s racism, bigotry, and ignorance.

      And yes, Trump lost the popular vote by over 2.5 million votes. He is the minority president. More than 54% of people voted against him. If you look at the fact that only about half of eligible voters voted, then less than 25% of the people elected Trump.

      He is entering the office with the lowest approval ratings of any newly elected President. Most people cannot stand him. Even among those who voted for him, many are skeptical.

      Reply

    5. Exiting public discourse is not the answer, it is an excuse for doing nothing. Get back here, and argue your case.

      Life is battle. Do your part, or not; either way you will suffer. Best do your part. — Jacques Blevins

      Reply

  14. Built-in FAIL.

    The list echoes Mr. Trump’s picks for a number of major economic positions, including Treasury secretary (the former Goldman Sachs partner…)

    Enough said. What a shame Trump continues to live out his ignorance of how the modern world works, as opposed to falling on its face. Thanks Goldman Sachs for contributing to the biggest faceplant of my generation. Dicks.

    Reply

  15. Oh dear on the surface sounds a lot like the 80s Thatcherite policy of giving up on industry and putting nearly all your ‘Trump cards’ on the finance sector might be about to be repeated here, knowingly or otherwise, despite all the rhetoric about supporting industry. Will no doubt work out well for all his ‘mates’ but if true will concentrate wealth like it did in the City of London in a very limited but ultra privileged group, widen the gulf between rich and poor and disappoint all those working class supporters who felt neglected, left out and gave up on the politicians to support the supposed big time Charlie business mogul. This could truly be a roller coaster if these signs are representative, and he is seiously expecting the increadingly conservative Bankers to dribble down their wealth creation to the needy business innovators and entrepreneurs who badly need it to revitalise the economy.

    Reply

      1. Most of what we buy has at least some content from foreign countries. And those are not necessarily all from China.

        As for China only making “crap”…that’s stupid. China makes most of Apple products…are they crap? China makes a host of other high quality products, including virtually all consumer electronics. No matter what computer, TV, etc you use, it’s probably made in China.

        Also, what about the Trump products…Trump clothing wear, towels in his hotels, etc which are made in China…are they crap too?

        Reply

      2. The main thing to realize is that Trump’s 35% tax would impact most consumer goods for most families…Trump wants to raise their taxes 35%.

        Thank Trump for the huge tax increase if he gets his way.

        Reply

        1. You don’t know if that will happen or not. You always have a choice of what to buy or not, to say that everything will go up 35% is stupid. And maybe it is a good thing in our ‘buy useless crap whether I need it or not” society of today. Save your money and buy what you need only. And you will end up with more money in your pocket.

    1. Let me correct that for you…Silicon Valley is full of progressive intellects, those who create the future, those who generate wealth.

      Silicon Valley is vitally important to both the economy and security of the US and its leaders should be a part of every discussion.

      Let’s also face reality: manufacturing jobs are going away regardless. What’s Trump going to do when the people on the assembly line are replaced, not by workers in another country, but by robots? It’s already happening. The better solution is to prepare workers for the new and emerging economy…give them the skills necessary to survive and thrive, not promise them an old and dying job.

      In short better to prepare workers to join Silicon Valley rather than settle for a factory job.

      Reply

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