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Coincidentally, construction isn’t set to start until late November 2028—convenient timing. If this mess blows over, they can quietly backpedal and carry on lik

Coincidentally, construction isn’t set to start until late November 2028—convenient timing. If this mess blows over, they can quietly backpedal and carry on like nothing happened.

bell-cot 2y ago
Every major business leader is stuck saying "do what we have to" a lot. The difference between the great leaders and the crap leaders is all in the details.
crowcroft 2y ago
Good timing because Trump should be significantly weaker, and it'll be clear where Trumpism is headed in the culture, but also it will be more clear where AI will end up. Even if the move forward with investment, they will be a bit of a 'late' mover, but will have had a chance to see what is working and what isn't working for everyone else.
- gsibble 2y ago
  Trump might be weaker but if Vance were to win the 2028 election he'd just continue the same policies.
  - crowcroft 2y ago
    Maybe, but that's a huge IF. It's assuming 1. JD Vance independent of Trump will have the same policies. 2. JD Vance will have enough popularity for a serious 2028 run. He might fall out favour with Trump as Trump tries to mount a bid for a third term, Trumpism might just generally lose popularity if policies lead to bad outcomes. 3. Dems don't figure their shit out. They should be able to take back some control in mid-terms, and then start to push their own policies, or at least credibly show that the most extreme policies from the exec branch don't have teeth anymore.
    - amazingman 2y ago
      And you're assuming that the 2028 election (and 2026 for that matter) will be business as usual elections, against all evidence to the contrary staring us directly in the face.
      - astrange 2y ago
        The federal government doesn't control elections in the US so they don't have much power here. Also, firing all the FBI agents is a bad first step to using them for interference. They have no clue how to be authoritarians; to do that, you need to be popular and have the security forces like you.
        HotHotLava 2y ago
        The playbook is obvious - if Trump loses, Vance refuses to certify the election results due to "fraud", Republican states will produce alternate lists of electors that vote for Trump, and he will claim that in reality he just won reelection with the biggest margin in history. How do we know this isn't just crazy conspiracy theory? Because they already did attempt the same thing in 2020, and this time they had the chance to vet the VP candidate for this scenario.
        astrange 2y ago
        Then we can have a color revolution. He's not doing the right steps to prevent that, because he's annoying the security forces instead of supporting them.
        jazzyjackson 2y ago
        The Republican party operates at the State level too.
        astrange 2y ago
        Parties in the US aren't real, though the brand value is good at keeping the right kind of people in each one. They can't actually kick anyone out and people in the federal government have no particular control over same party people in any state.
layer8 2y ago
Source on the construction start?
nilkn 2y ago
The NYT says the Texas facility will open in 2026: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/business/apple-tariffs-jobs-investment.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/business/apple-tariffs-jo...
analog31 2y ago
"Announce when the favored party is in power, cancel later."
- BurningFrog 2y ago
  It's much cheaper to announce than to implement!
noname120 2y ago
Can they realistically cancel their construction contract right before the construction starts? Sounds implausible to me, at least not without huge compensatory fees

Coincidentally, construction isn’t set to start until late November 2028—convenient timing. If this mess blows over, they can quietly backpedal and carry on like nothing happened.

bell-cot 2y ago

Every major business leader is stuck saying "do what we have to" a lot. The difference between the great leaders and the crap leaders is all in the details.

crowcroft 2y ago

Good timing because Trump should be significantly weaker, and it'll be clear where Trumpism is headed in the culture, but also it will be more clear where AI will end up. Even if the move forward with investment, they will be a bit of a 'late' mover, but will have had a chance to see what is working and what isn't working for everyone else.

gsibble 2y ago
Trump might be weaker but if Vance were to win the 2028 election he'd just continue the same policies.
- crowcroft 2y ago
  Maybe, but that's a huge IF. It's assuming 1. JD Vance independent of Trump will have the same policies. 2. JD Vance will have enough popularity for a serious 2028 run. He might fall out favour with Trump as Trump tries to mount a bid for a third term, Trumpism might just generally lose popularity if policies lead to bad outcomes. 3. Dems don't figure their shit out. They should be able to take back some control in mid-terms, and then start to push their own policies, or at least credibly show that the most extreme policies from the exec branch don't have teeth anymore.
  - amazingman 2y ago
    And you're assuming that the 2028 election (and 2026 for that matter) will be business as usual elections, against all evidence to the contrary staring us directly in the face.
    - astrange 2y ago
      The federal government doesn't control elections in the US so they don't have much power here. Also, firing all the FBI agents is a bad first step to using them for interference. They have no clue how to be authoritarians; to do that, you need to be popular and have the security forces like you.
      - HotHotLava 2y ago
        The playbook is obvious - if Trump loses, Vance refuses to certify the election results due to "fraud", Republican states will produce alternate lists of electors that vote for Trump, and he will claim that in reality he just won reelection with the biggest margin in history. How do we know this isn't just crazy conspiracy theory? Because they already did attempt the same thing in 2020, and this time they had the chance to vet the VP candidate for this scenario.
        astrange 2y ago
        Then we can have a color revolution. He's not doing the right steps to prevent that, because he's annoying the security forces instead of supporting them.
      - jazzyjackson 2y ago
        The Republican party operates at the State level too.
        astrange 2y ago
        Parties in the US aren't real, though the brand value is good at keeping the right kind of people in each one. They can't actually kick anyone out and people in the federal government have no particular control over same party people in any state.

layer8 2y ago

Source on the construction start?

nilkn 2y ago

The NYT says the Texas facility will open in 2026: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/business/apple-tariffs-jobs-investment.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/business/apple-tariffs-jo...

analog31 2y ago

"Announce when the favored party is in power, cancel later."

BurningFrog 2y ago
It's much cheaper to announce than to implement!

noname120 2y ago

Can they realistically cancel their construction contract right before the construction starts? Sounds implausible to me, at least not without huge compensatory fees