Trump says Apple would not be as successful today if Steve Jobs was still in charge

Donald Trump has claimed Apple would not be as successful today if Steve Jobs was still leading the company instead of Tim Cook.

Reacting to Cook’s decision to step down as Apple CEO in September, Trump praised Cook’s leadership and said Apple became far bigger under him than it would have otherwise.

“I have always been a big fan of Tim Cook, and likewise, Steve Jobs,” Trump said. “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 has made similar comments before, previously saying that if Cook did not run Apple, the company “wouldn’t be nearly as successful as it is now.”

Cook took over as Apple CEO in August 2011, shortly before Jobs died. During Cook’s time in charge, Apple’s market value has grown from around $350 billion to several trillion dollars, with the company launching products and services including Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple Silicon Macs, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Vision Pro, and Apple Intelligence.

While Steve Jobs is widely seen as the visionary behind products like the iPhone and iPad, Cook is often credited with turning Apple into one of the richest and most stable companies in the world through his focus on operations, services, and supply chain management.