President Trump praised Tim Cook’s tenure as the CEO of Apple on Tuesday, a day after the company announced Cook would step down from the role.
“I have always been a big fan of Tim Cook, and likewise, Steve Jobs, but if Steve was not taken from the Planet Earth so young, and ran the company instead of Tim, the company would have done well, but nowhere near as well as it has under Tim,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
The president recounted a phone call he received from Cook during his first term in the White House, in which he said he was “very impressed with myself to have the head of Apple calling to ‘kiss my a–,’” describing the exchange as the beginning of a “long and very nice” relationship.
“During my five years as President, Tim would call me, but never too much, and I would help him where I could,” he continued. “Years latter, after 3 or 4 BIG HELPS, I started to say to people, anyone who would listen, that this guy is an amazing manager and leader.”
Apple announced on Monday that Cook was stepping down after 15 years and would become the executive chair of its board of directors. John Ternus, the senior vice president of hardware engineering, is set to take over as CEO in September.
