A photo shows the Twitter feed of Apple chief executive Tim Cook, who turned into "Tim Apple" on social media. (AFP)
President Donald Trump called Apple CEO Tim Cook “Tim Apple” during a White House roundtable with business leaders last Wednesday.
The president explained that it was not a gaffe, and that he was just being succinct.
“I quickly referred to Tim + Apple as Tim/Apple as an easy way to save time & words,” Trump explained on his Twitter feed. “The Fake News was disparagingly all over this, and it became yet another bad Trump story!”
During remarks at the roundtable, Trump raised eyebrows when - with Cook sitting to his right - he said: “We appreciate it very much, Tim Apple.”
Cook took the stumble humorously, later changing his Twitter profile to Tim with the Apple logo.
According to Axios news site, Trump had a different explanation during a private meeting of Republican donors in Florida on Friday.
The report said that he had told puzzled Republicans that he’d really said “Tim Cook Apple,” but that “Cook” was said very quietly, then ignored by the media.
