In a televised meeting of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board at the White House on Wednesday, Donald Trump referred to Apple leader Tim Cook as “Tim Apple” after seemingly forgetting the CEO’s name live on air.
The blunder came after Tim Cook touted Apple’s educational focus, announcing the the Everyone Can Code curriculum has been adopted by 4,000 schools so far. Cook further touted Apple’s investments in Austin, Texas.
Thanking Tim for this work, Donald Trump said Tim has done “an incredible job at Apple and become a friend of [his]. [Cook’s] a friend because he does a great job,” Trump said. “He’s brought a lot of money back to the country because of the new tax law and is spending that money very wisely.”
We’re going to be opening up the labor forces because we have to. We have so many companies coming in. 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’ve 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.
As The Verge notes, calling Tim Cook “Tim Apple” isn’t the first time Trump has seemingly referenced a CEO by the wrong name. Last year, he referenced to Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson as “Marillyn Lockheed.”