Trump tells Tim Cook that he doesn't want to build an Apple iPhone in India

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he told apple CEO Tim Cook believes he does not want the tech giant to build its products in India, diversify the company from China and urges him to go to U.S. residents.

“I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump said. “I said to him, 'My friend, I treat you very well. I don't want you to build in India.”

Trump mentioned Apple's commitment to a $500 billion investment announced in February.

Apple has been ramping up production in India with the goal of making about 25% of global iPhones in the next few years as it hopes to reduce its dependence on China, and currently assembles about 90% of flagship smartphones.

“I said to Tim, I said, 'Look, we treated you very well, we endured all the plants you built in China for years, and now you have built us. We built you in India, India can take care of yourself… We want you to build yourself here.”

The U.S. president added that Apple will “raise” its production in the U.S. without revealing more details.

CNBC has contacted Apple.

Trump commented on the U.S. tech giants while discussing Washington's broader trade relations with India.

Trump said India is “one of the highest tariff countries in the world” and that the country has provided the United States with a deal that “they are willing to literally not collect our tariffs.”

Trump imposed a so-called 26% mutual tariff on Indian goods, which has been temporarily reduced to July, according to White House trade protectionist policies revealed in April.

Foxconn, the main rally partner in India, received approval from the Indian government on Monday to build a semiconductor factory in the country in a joint venture with the HCL Group.

Apple has spent decades building its supply chain in China, but has demonstrated its production capacity to other countries such as Vietnam and India.

But experts generally believe that it would be extremely unlikely to transfer iPhone production to the United States because of the final price of the final product. Different estimates will cost the iPhone between $1,500 and $3,500 if made in the United States

Apple currently produces very few products in the U.S., with the Cupertino giant in California producing Mac Pro in the U.S. in February, and it announced it would open a manufacturing plant in Texas to produce its AI system Apple smart servers.