Trump to Hold 'Tech Summit' in New York

Some of Silicon Valley’s biggest names are expected to head to Trump Tower today to meet with the president-elect.

The head honchos meeting with Trump today as part of his "tech summit" include Apple CEO Tim Cook, Alphabet CEO Larry Page, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Oracle CEO Safra Catz.

"I plan to tell the President-elect that we are with him and are here to help in any way we can," Catz told ABC News. "If he can reform the tax code, reduce regulation, and negotiate better trade deals, the U.S. technology community will be stronger and more competitive than ever."

The tech world and Trump have a frayed relationship. Many Silicon Valley heavyweights publicly backed Democrat Hillary Clinton for president with some notable exceptions such as venture capital investor Peter Thiel, who vocally supported Trump.

And Trump has demonstrated a willingness to challenge the industry at times.

For example, in February, Trump bashed Apple for not cooperating with the investigators of the San Bernardino terrorist attack. Apple received a court order in February to help the FBI break encryption codes on the iPhone belonging to one of the attackers. "The implications of the government’s demands are chilling," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement.

Trump, in an interview on Fox News, said, "To think that Apple won't allow us to get into her cell phone -- who do they think they are?” Trump said. “No, we have to open it up.” During a campaign event in South Carolina on Feb. 19, Trump called for a boycott of Apple.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates met separately with Trump on Tuesday.

ABC News' Ryan Struyk contributed to this report.

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from ABC News: Politics http://ift.tt/2hwMUsl

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