Apple CEO and Hillary Clinton supporter Tim Cook said he attended a meeting between top Silicon Valley executives and President-elect Donald Trump because "you don't change things by just yelling."

In a post on Apple's internal intranet obtained by TechCrunch, Cook responded to an employee who asked: "How important is it for Apple to engage with governments?"

"Personally, I've never found being on the sideline a successful place to be," Cook replied, TechCrunch reported.

"The way that you influence these issues is to be in the arena. So, whether it's in this country, or the European Union, or in China or South America, we engage. And we engage when we agree, and we engage when we disagree. I think it's very important to do that because you don't change things by just yelling."

"You change things by showing everyone why your way is the best," he added. "In many ways, it's a debate of ideas."

He then ticked off policy issues for which Apple would be an advocate: "privacy and security, education . . . advocating for human rights for everyone and expanding the definition of human rights . . . the environment and . . . combating climate change . . ."

"We very much stand up for what we believe in," he wrote. "We think that's a key part of what Apple is about. And we'll continue to do so."

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