Donald Trump Tweets Apple Tariff Threat Using Apple iPhone

President Donald Trump was mocked on Twitter for tweeting that he would not allow tariff waivers for Apple, while clearly using an iPhone to convey his message.

"Apple will not be given Tariff wavers, or relief, for Mac Pro parts that are made in China," Trump tweeted early morning Friday. "Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!"

Trump's tweet was in reference to the trade war he has engaged in with China. The Trump administration has threatened a tariff on imports from China that would affect electronics among other goods, and could mean a tariff increase of up to 25 percent for Apple.

Apple, which moved its Mac Pro manufacturing from the U.S. to China recently, submitted a request with the Office of the United States Trade Representative earlier this month for some parts to be exempt from Trump's proposed tariffs. The request did not name the Mac Pro desktop computer but Bloomberg reported that the descriptions matched up.

A Twitter user on Friday took a screenshot of Trump's tweet and circled the section on the post indicating, "Twitter for iPhone," setting off an endless parade of jokes and criticism directed at the president.

To that, a Twitter user replied, "jacka**," but another user defended the president, commenting, "It's not like he's going against the company."

Twitter users also ridiculed Trump for misspelling "waivers" as "wavers."

"Did Tim Apple call and tell you that you misspelled waivers," a Twitter user remarked, referring to Trump's mistake in calling Apple CEO Tim Cook "Tim Apple" at a roundtable meeting in March. Trump later denied his flub and tweeted he referred to the tech CEO that way "to save time & words."

Other Twitter users pointed out that Trump's clothing products were made in China, as were those of his daughter and senior White House adviser Ivanka Trump. In addition, Ivanka Trump's clothing products were exempt from the Trump administration's earlier tariffs on Chinese products.

"All of your s***ty products are made in China," a Twitter user replied. "The hypocrisy is astounding."

Trump's tweet seemed to skip ahead of a decision by the Office of the United States Trade Representative on whether Apple would be exempt from the tariffs. Apple has been able to avoid previous Trump administration tariffs on its products including the Apple Watch.

Tech companies have told Trump that tariffs would hurt their production costs and business, but the president has insisted that China has treated the U.S. unfairly and that he needs to level the playing field.