Apple CEO on why he met with Trump: ‘You don’t change things by yelling’

Apple CEO Tim Cook says he met with President-elect Donald Trump to have a say in the industry’s future, adding that he doesn’t want to be on the “sidelines” during the next administration.

“I think it’s very important to do that because you don’t change things by just yelling,” Cook wrote to employees in an internal memo. “You change things by showing everyone why your way is the best. In many ways, it’s a debate of ideas.”

{mosads}The memo, obtained by TechCrunch, details Cook’s thoughts on his meeting with Trump and other industry leaders.

“Personally, I’ve never found being on the sideline a successful place to be,” Cook wrote. “The way that you influence these issues is to be in the arena. So whether it’s in this country, or the European Union, or in China or South America, we engage. And we engage when we agree and we engage when we disagree.”

Trump invited Cook, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Google’s Larry Page and others last week to Trump Tower.

“We very much stand up for what we believe in,” Cook said in his memo. “We think that’s a key part of what Apple is about. And we’ll continue to do so.”

Apple chose not to financially support the Republican National Convention in Cleveland over the summer, Politico reported. In the past, the company has contributed funds to both the GOP convention and the Democratic National Convention.