Trump Claims He Opened Austin Apple Manufacturing Plant

AUSTIN, TX — After touring the Apple manufacturing facility in Austin, President Donald Trump claimed on Twitter that he had opened a "major" Apple manufacturing plant in Texas. But the facility that Trump toured on Wednesday has been operational for at least six years.

The Apple manufacturing plant where the company churns out its Mac Pro has been open since 2013. In splashy fashion, CEO Tim Cook announced its construction as early as 2012.

Then came the president's post on Twitter: “Today I opened a major Apple manufacturing plant in Texas that will bring high paying jobs back to America."

Trump's tour of the local Apple plant was designed to showcase manufacturing jobs in the U.S. to bolster his claims of job creation during the three years of his presidency. With its domestic assembly, Apple has emerged as one of Trump's favorite examples in espousing the "Made in U.S.A." ideal.

“I’m grateful for their support in pulling today off and getting us to this far," Cook said in comments to reporters after touring the plant in Northwest Austin, referencing Trump and members of his administration, according to press pool footage. "It would not be possible without them.”

In a follow-up tweet, Trump posted a video of his tour, quoting the original tweet where he claimed to have opened up the new facility.

The fact-checking website Politifact rated Trump's claim of opening the manufacturing plant as "false."

Before arriving in Austin, Trump said, "Apple is opening up a fantastic facility …." He then added: "I've been asking Tim Cook from the day I got elected from the campaign to, if they would, we want to see Apple build here. And that way there's no tariffs. There's no tariffs!"

It's likely Trump was referring to the new $1 billion campus Apple is building in Austin that is separate from the manufacturing plant.

Apple made headlines earlier this year with the announcement of the plans to build the campus that's expected to open in 2022 and employ some 5,000 workers in the immediate term, and eventually up to 15,000.

On the same day as Trump's visit, Apple officials announced they had broken ground on the new campus.

In remarks after visiting the manufacturing plant, Trump referenced the new facility after Cook noted the groundbreaking that took place Wednesday morning — before Trump's arrival.

"So Tim was saying, just a little while ago, that he's starting this massive, new development also in Texas -- Austin," Trump said. "But he's also said something to me about the American economy because he's, you know, all over the world. I would say there's probably nobody that's more over the world than Apple."

As part of the visit on Wednesday, Trump only toured the Flextronics facility where Apple builds its Mac Pro.

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Editor's Note: This article has been revised for clarity to more accurately reflect the context behind President Trump's post on Twitter.