Trump Remembers Time Apple’s Tim Cook Called To ‘Kiss My Ass’

President Donald Trump said his first interaction with outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook came during his first term when the tech mogul called to get his help with a “fairly large problem.”

“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 said in a lengthy Truth Social post on Tuesday.

The post came a day after Apple announced that Cook would be leaving the company in September after 15 years leading it. Trump said Cook called him at the beginning of his first term asking for his help with a problem.

“He had a fairly large problem that only I, as President, could fix. Most people would have paid millions of dollars to a consultant, who I probably would not have known, but who would say that he knew me well,” Trump said. “The fees would be paid but the job would not have gotten done. When I got the call I said, wow, it’s Tim Apple (Cook!) calling, how big is that? I was very impressed with myself to have the head of Apple calling to ‘kiss my ass.’”

Trump said he thought that Cook was right and got the problem “taken care” of “quickly and effectively.”

“That was 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,” Trump said, saying he helped Cook three or four times with big issues.

“He makes these calls to me, I help him out (but not always, because he will, on occasion, be too aggressive in his ask!), and he gets the job done, QUICKLY, without a dime being given to those very expensive (millions of dollars!) consultants around town who sometimes get it done, and sometimes don’t,” Trump said. “Anyway, Tim Cook had an AMAZING career, almost incomparable, and will go on and continue to do great work for Apple, and whatever else he chooses to work on. Quite simply, Tim Cook is an incredible guy!!!”

In August 2025, Cook joined Trump at the White House to announced $100 billion in investments in the United States. Cook gifted Trump an Apple logo nameplate with gold base during the meeting.

Under Cook’s leadership, Apple became a $4 trillion company. He will be replaced by John Ternus, currently the senior vice president of hardware engineering.