Trump says he called Apple's CEO 'Tim Apple' to save time after reportedly telling donors he never said it

• President Trump tweets that he quickly said "Tim Apple" at a White House event "to save time & words."
• The comment brought about a wave of jokes online, including from Tim Cook himself who changed his last name on Twitter to the Apple logo.
• Trump's tweet walks back comments he made to Republican donors on Friday, according to a report from Axios, where he said he'd actually called Cook "Tim Cook Apple."

US President Donald Trump speaks alongside Apple CEO Tim Cook (L) during the first meeting of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, March 6, 2019.

Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

President Donald Trump was not amused with the jokes about his slip-up when he called Apple's CEO Tim Cook "Tim Apple."

"I quickly referred to Tim + Apple as Tim/Apple as an easy way to save time & words," Trump wrote in a tweet Monday defending the phrase. "The Fake News was disparagingly all over this, & it became yet another bad Trump story!"

Tweet

The original statement came at a White House meeting Wednesday of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, of which Cook is a member. Following Trump's remarks, people immediately joked about Cook's new name on Twitter. Cook himself got in on the joke, changing his last name on Twitter to an Apple logo emoji.

Trump's tweet about the "Tim Apple" incident walks back a statement he reportedly made to Republican donors on Friday. Axios reported that Trump claimed to have said "Tim Cook Apple" extra quickly, and that the "fake news" only reported that he said "Tim Apple."

"I just thought, why would you lie about that," one of the donors in attendance told Axios. "It doesn't even matter!"

You can see Trump's "Tim Apple" moment in the video below.

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