In a lengthy post on Truth Social, former President Trump referred to Apple CEO Tim Cook as “Tim Apple” while mentioning the U.S. business leaders joining him on his trip to China this week.
Trump used the post to refute CNBC’s claim that Jensen Huang from Nvidia was excluded from the trip, confirming his own participation and current location on Air Force One.
Among the CEOs listed by the president for the China visit were Jensen, Elon Musk, Tim Apple, Larry Fink, Stephen Schwarzmann, Kelly Ortberg of Boeing, Brian Sikes of Cargill, Jane Fraser of Citi, Larry Culp of GE Aerospace, David Solomon of Goldman Sachs, Sanjay Mehrotra of Micron, Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm, and several others.
This is not the first time Trump has playfully referred to Tim Cook as “Tim Apple,” possibly trying to popularize a past slip-up from 2019 when he mistakenly called Cook by that name during an event at the White House.
Following the incident, both Cook and the internet embraced the nickname, with Cook briefly changing his Twitter profile to feature the Apple logo instead of his last name.
Earlier this year in April, Trump revived the playful moniker when reminiscing about an interaction with Tim Cook on social media.
As Tim Cook prepares to step down as Apple’s CEO after a 15-year tenure, Trump praised his career, acknowledging Cook’s contributions to Apple and expressing admiration for his future endeavors. Cook is set to transition to the role of executive chairman on September 1, with John Ternus taking over as CEO.
The transition marks the end of an era for Cook, who succeeded the late Steve Jobs as Apple CEO. Jobs co-founded Apple Computer Company with Steve Wozniak in 1976, creating a tech giant that has since become a global powerhouse in the industry.