Trump compliments outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook, but adds vulgar insult

It's not every U.S. CEO who gets complimented by the U.S. president on their way out of their company - or gets insulted in vulgar terms at the same time.

But Tim Cook now has that double-edged distinction, after President Donald Trump this week declared he was a fan of the outgoing Apple CEO, but also recalled what he described with a lurid epithet as Cook humbling himself before the president in pursuit of a favor.

"I have always been a big fan of Tim Cook," Trump's message on social media began, a day after Apple announced Cook would be replaced in September by the company's senior vice-president of hardware engineering, John Ternus.

"For me, it began with a phone call from Tim at the beginning of my First Term. He had a fairly large problem that only I, as President, could fix," Trump wrote on Truth Social, without identifying the problem.

"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 (epithet).' "

The President went on to say he took care of Cook's problem, and from then on, the Apple CEO would call him "but never too much," and Trump would "help him" when possible.

"Years latter (sic), 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 … and he gets the job done, QUICKLY," Trump wrote. "Quite simply, Tim Cook is an incredible guy!!!"

Cook, like other American corporate leaders, faces a bind in dealing with Trump, said Paul Saffo, a long-time Silicon Valley forecaster and policy analyst.

"If you get on his radar opposing him, he will attack you," Saffo said. "If you appease or support him, no matter what you do, you're going to be humiliated."

High-profile Bay Area public-relations consultant Sam Singer said Cook getting "praised and insulted by President Trump in the same breath says more about Trump than it does about Tim Cook."

Cook is also not the only person, in business or politics, to be featured in a presidential social media post. Trump frequently uses TruthSocial, a platform he owns, to call out CEOs, elected officials and others.

Cook's legacy is defined by his successful work building Apple and keeping the company stable - achievements validated by Trump's post, Singer said. Under Cook, Apple has grown into the world's third most-valuable company.

"Trump is effectively acknowledging that Tim Cook was one of the few CEOs who could pick up the phone, make a case and get results," Singer said. "In today's environment, that kind of access and effectiveness is part of why Cook's reputation remains so strong."

Apple did not immediately respond to questions about the President's post or its relationship with the federal government.

Trump in his second term has taken a strong interest in Silicon Valley, bringing powerful tech leaders into his orbit, including venture capitalist David Sacks - Trump's former artificial-intelligence czar, now co-chair of the President's technology council - and VC Marc Andreessen, who has advised Trump and also sits on the council alongside Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

Meanwhile, leaders of tech companies have sought to curry favor with the Trump administration. Some, like Apple, have federal contracts. Most are pouring billions of dollars into artificial intelligence while battling regulation, and also seeking U.S. government support to fend off European regulation.

Apple, Google, Meta and HP donated to Trump's new, under-construction White House ballroom, with Huang later saying he was "delighted to be part of it."

At Trump's inauguration in January, Cook, Zuckerberg, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai sat behind the President. Cook and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman personally donated $1 million each to Trump's inauguration committee, as did Google and Meta.

In August, Cook, with the threat of steep tariffs potentially increasing the price of iPhones, gave Trump a plaque with a 24-karat gold bar as a base, when the pair announced Apple planned to invest $100 billion in domestic manufacturing. That same day, the White House said iPhones would be exempted from 50% tariffs on India, where Apple makes most of its U.S.-bound iPhones.

On Wednesday, watchdog group the Tech Transparency Project reported that Apple spent $10 million last year to lobby Washington policymakers, and focused efforts on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in pursuit of federal endorsement of wearable health technology, including the Apple watch. The lobbying push coincided with an announcement by the agency's head, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., of a campaign to promote consumer use of such devices, the group's report said.

"In the early days of Silicon Valley, there was some hostility towards political involvement," said San Jose State University political science professor Lawrence Quill. "That has changed. Each tech leader has their own agenda and relationship with the government. Nearly all favor less regulation."

Tech leaders' power "is, arguably, unlike anything that we have seen," Quill said. "There have been powerful and wealthy industrialists before, of course. Think Leland Stanford or Andrew Carnegie. But modern-day tech leaders exert influence on a global scale and often share a platform with elected officials at the highest level nationally and internationally."

Silicon Valley CEOs oversee technologies worth trillions of dollars that shape the opinions and capture the attention of billions of people worldwide, Quill noted.

"Put this way: Who has more power - politicians or tech leaders?" Quill said. "The ballroom is not that significant compared to the political, social and economic influence wielded by tech leaders."

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This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 9:23 PM.