President Donald Trump has strongly criticized the U.K. government’s demand for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to create a backdoor into its encrypted cloud storage, comparing the move to authoritarian surveillance tactics used in China.
What Happened: In an interview with The Spectator last week, Trump said that he confronted British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during their meeting about the U.K.’s attempt to force Apple to weaken its encryption for law enforcement access.
“We told them: you can’t do this,” Trump said. “That’s incredible. That’s something, you know, that you hear about with China.”
Apple has withdrawn its Advanced Data Protection system for iCloud in the U.K. rather than comply with a technical capability notice issued under the country’s Investigatory Powers Act (IPA).
This order would have required Apple to create a vulnerability allowing authorities to access encrypted user data—something even Apple itself cannot do under its security model.
Why It’s Important: Other U.S. officials have also voiced concern over the U.K.’s demands. Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. Director of National Intelligence, has called the order an “egregious violation” of privacy and stated that intelligence agencies are investigating the issue.
Cybersecurity experts have also condemned the U.K. government’s decision. Professor Alan Woodward described it as an “act of self-harm,” while privacy advocate Caro Robson pointed out that it is rare for a company to withdraw a product instead of complying with government regulations.
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Meanwhile, Trump has previously also mentioned that he discussed the financial penalties imposed by the EU on Apple with the company’s CEO Tim Cook.
During his 2024 Presidential election campaign, Trump said that he promised Cook that he wouldn’t let the EU take advantage of U.S. companies.
Price Action: Apple’s stock closed at $241.40 on Friday, up 1.73%. In after-hours trading, it gained another 0.21%. Year to date, AAPL is down 1.01%, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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