Apple may have discovered a new tactic for winning in President Donald Trump’s trade war: flattery. On Wednesday, the president announced Apple would be granted a reprieve from a tariff hike on semiconductors that would’ve effectively made iPhones more expensive around the world. Reuters reported that the exemption was part of a package that also included a $100 billion commitment to further invest in the U.S. and a personalized gold statue that Apple gifted to Trump during the Oval Office ceremony.

Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said in a statement that the gold statue was made by Corning, a company that’s worked with Apple on specialty glass for iPhones and MacBooks for years. The glass was cut into a large circle by a former corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps who now works at Apple, according to Cook, and a solid block of Apple’s iconic logo was fused into the center. The statue arrived in Utah (the company declined to say who made the journey) with a gold base cut from 24-karat gold and engraved with Trump’s name. Cook also added a signature calligraphic flourish: a note that said “Made in America.”

It’s a symbolic gesture that seemed to hit Trump, who has long berated corporate leaders to bring more of their manufacturing stateside, where Apple sources much of the materials for its products, at the right spot. In the Oval Office presentation, Trump confirmed Apple — along with any company constructing manufacturing plants in the U.S. — will receive “no charge” when the tariff on semiconductors is formally enacted. It’s a big win for Apple, which for months has come under public attack from Trump over its supply chain.

Wednesday’s news comes on the heels of a particularly tumultuous spring. In March and April, Trump had repeatedly criticized Apple for moving portions of iPhone assembly to India rather than investing in the U.S. “Watch, when we have a deal with India, you’re not going to make your iPhones in India,” Trump said in April. “You’re going to start making them here, because you won’t be able to do that,” he said of a separate trade deal. In May, the tone of Trump’s criticism grew more frustrated. While on a trip in the Middle East, Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he had “no relationship” with Apple CEO Tim Cook and that “I have a little problem with Tim Cook.”

Trump told Cook more directly, according to The New York Times: “We are treating you really good, we put up with all the plants you built in China for years. We are not interested in you building in India.

Analysts had long pointed out, however, that while bringing Apple’s assembly operations to the U.S. would be a boon for Trump’s rhetoric, it is an immensely complicated process that would take years, if it’s even remotely possible. The White House, however, seemed content to suggest the transition would be smooth and simple. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Reuters in April that Apple was already studying “robotic arms” that could be used to replicate the precision of its factories in China in the U.S.

Cook, who responded to pressure to state his case in person, conceded nothing on Wednesday about U.S. manufacturing. While he has previously confirmed that certain parts of the iPhone (semiconductors, glass, Face ID modules) are already made stateside, Cook did not offer a clear indication of when final assembly might occur in the U.S. The process, he said, would remain outside the U.S. “for a while.”

That hasn’t changed in the Trump era. This playbook of symbolic statements and carefully tailored investments is a familiar one for Apple. During Trump’s last term, Cook danced with the president, showering the White House with promises of U.S. investment while carefully avoiding the most combative elements of his demands.

In 2017, the White House announced Apple had pledged to build three “big, beautiful” manufacturing plants in the U.S. — two in Texas and one in either Arizona, Chicago, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, or the Carolinas. Only one ended up being built, and it made face masks instead of iPhones. A year later, Trump took Apple on a tour of its manufacturing plant in Texas, which he indicated could be used to produce iPhones. Apple instead anointed the plant as the primary source of MacBook Pro. The iPhones never materialized, as far as we know.

Now, Apple has announced it will spend a total of $600 billion in the U.S. over the next four years. It’s a high-sounding figure, but according to analysts who spoke to Reuters, that figure is in line with Apple’s past investment figures and has been something the company has announced during both the Biden and Trump administrations. In other words, it’s a largely empty pledge.