Eh, his calculus was likely the following:

• Trump has in the past threatened economic or financial penalties over minor, and major, disagreements
• Trump is in his last term, so he likely isn’t concerned with the political, legal, etc. ramifications of his actions
• Apple, as a company, still manufactures the majority of its product lines outside the US
• Trump is still trying to use tariffs in the US to manipulate markets and force business actions
• Either I capitulate and save Apple from potentially billions in fiscal pain and / or years of legal representation to fight said pain, or make this change and avoid all of it
• The cost of this capitulation is mostly a PR / company image issue + plus dev time to implement the change, versus a very real monetary loss

I don’t agree with his decision, but given the options available I do agree trying to keep the peace with the vindictive, unstable world leader of Apple’s largest market is in their best interest.

Probably has no actual permissions for that, just relaying his personal thoughts or answering information-only questions.