A day after Apple announced that its CEO Tim Cook was stepping down, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) praised Cook, calling him an “incredible guy” who had an “amazing career”. Trump also called himself a big fan of the Apple CEO.
In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote: “I’ve always been a big fan of Tim Cook and Steve Jobs as well, but if Steve hadn’t been taken from planet Earth so young and run the company instead of Tim, the company would have done well, but not nearly as well as it did under Tim.
Recalling his first interaction with Cook during his first term as US president, Trump added: “For me, it started with a phone call from Tim at the beginning of my first term. He had a pretty big problem that only I, as president, could solve. Most people would pay millions of dollars to a consultant who I probably wouldn’t know, but who would say they know me well. The fees wouldn’t be paid.” Wow, Tim Apple (Cook!) is calling, how big is this? I was very impressed with the Apple boss calling out “kiss my a**”. Anyway, he explained his problem, it was difficult, I felt he was right, and he took care of it quickly and efficiently.”
The incident marked the beginning of a “long and very nice relationship,” according to Trump.
Cook sought help from me: Trump
The US president noted that during his five-year tenure as president, Cook called him several times to seek help. He went on to say that while Cook called him, it was never very frequent, adding that “I would help him where I could.” He even said that after three or four “big handouts” he told people that Cook was an amazing manager and leader because he would get the job done quickly without spending a dime on those very expensive (millions of dollars!) consultants in town who sometimes get it done and sometimes don’t.
According to Trump, Cook had an amazing career at Apple, almost unmatched. He went on to say that Cook will “go ahead and continue to do great work for Apple.”
Tim Cook resigns
Cook will step down from his post at the end of this year, marking the end of a tenure that has seen the tech giant sweep through the landscape revolutionized by artificial intelligence (AI). He will now become Apple’s executive chairman
He will be succeeded by John Ternus, senior vice president of hardware engineering. Ternus will take over from Apple on September 1st.
Cook’s Apple career
Tim Cook joined Apple Inc in 1998 and became CEO in 2011. Since then, he has led the launch of major products and services, including new categories such as Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple Vision Pro, as well as platforms such as iCloud, Apple Pay, Apple TV and Apple Music, while strengthening existing lines. Under his leadership, Apple’s market value jumped from around $350 billion to $4 trillion, and annual sales grew from $108 billion in 2011 to more than $416 billion in 2025.
The company now operates in over 200 countries, operates over 500 retail stores, has added over 100,000 employees and has grown its active device base to over 2.5 billion.
