President Donald Trump insists that he did not mistakenly refer to Apple CEO Tim Cook as “Tim Apple,” even though the bungled name could be heard on video, Axios reported.
The White House’s own transcript noted that the president said “Tim — Apple” during a meeting with business leaders last week:
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much, Johnny. And we’re going to be opening up the labor forces, because we have to. We have so many companies coming. People like Tim, you’re expanding all over and doing things that I really wanted you to right from the beginning. I used to say, “Tim, you got to start doing it over here.” And you really have. I mean, you’ve really put a big investment in our country. We appreciate it very much, Tim — Apple.
On Friday, Trump told a group of GOP donors at his golf resort that he said “Tim Cook Apple,” but that the “Cook” was really fast, and that “fake news” reported it as “Tim Apple,” per Axios.
Let’s go to the tape:
In a not-so-subtle dig at the president, Cook changed his Twitter name to “Tim .”
Trump did call Cook by his correct name at another point during the meeting.
One donor at Mar-a-Lago told Axios he was surprised by the president’s denial.
“I just thought, why would you lie about that?” the donor said. “It doesn’t even matter.”