President Donald Trump talks to Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook during the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board's first meeting in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Donald Trump said on Monday that he called Apple CEO Tim Cook "Tim Apple" to "save time & words," blasting the "fake news" for covering the topic.
"At a recent round table meeting of business executives, & long after formally introducing Tim Cook of Apple, I quickly referred to Tim + Apple as Tim/Apple as an easy way to save time & words," Trump tweeted. "The Fake News was disparagingly all over this, & it became yet another bad Trump story!"
Fox News, along with a host of other media outlets, reported the story last week after a tweet capturing the moment quickly went viral.
TIM COOK, IN APPARENT JAB AT TRUMP, CHANGES HIS NAME TO TIM APPLE
Axios reported on Sunday that Trump lied to RNC donors about it and claimed to have said "Tim Cook Apple" really fast. "I just thought, why would you lie about that," one of the donors told Axios reporter Jonathan Swan. "It doesn't even matter!"
The 58-year-old Apple chief sat next to Trump during the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board meeting in the State Dining Room, where officials discussed the importance of technology in education. Trump praised the CEO for his “big investment” in the U.S., but when it came time to thank Cook by name, not even a conspicuously placed name tag could help.
“People like Tim, you’re expanding all over and doing things that I really wanted you to do right from the beginning. I used to say, ‘Tim, you gotta start doing it here,’ and you really have you’ve really put a big investment in our country. We really appreciate it very much, Tim Apple,” Trump said.
Cook, who has sided with the Trump administration on certain issues, such as tax reform, but blasted them for others, including the trade war with China, appeared to have a bit of fun at the president's expense last week when he changed his name on Twitter to Tim Apple.
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Fox News has reached out to the White House with a request for comment on the Axios report.
Fox News' Stephen Sorace contributed to this story.
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