Apple's CEO Tim Cook has explained why he chose to meet US President-elect Donald Trump last week.

"It's very important. Governments can affect our ability to do what we do," Cook stated. "We engage when we agree, and we engage when we disagree. I think it's very important to do that because you don't change things by just yelling."

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There has been a lot of discussion about the meeting Trump hosted with tech leaders last week. Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Larry Page of Google, and Satya Nadella of Microsoft are among the tech execs who attended the meeting.

Pundits have been divided on whether it was worth having a meeting with Trump given that some of these tech execs have expressed values in contrast with statements the US President-elect has made during and after his campaign.

According to Cook, it is very important to engage, to show everyone why one's way of working is the best and to have a debate on ideas.

To the question of how important it is for Apple to engage with governments, Cook responded by saying that there are specific issues Apple cares about deeply and that it would need to become an advocate for those things. 

Apple's focus is on policies of privacy & security, education, advocating for human rights for everyone, expanding the definition of human rights, and combating climate change.

At this point, no one knows whether President-elect Trump will, in fact, bring about his proposed changes in immigration, environmental protection, and cybersecurity laws.