U.S. President Trump lauds outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook

President Donald Trump via Truth Social:
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I have always been a big fan of Tim Cook, and likewise, Steve Jobs, 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. For me it began with a phone call from Tim at the beginning of my First Term. He had a fairly large problem that only I, as President, could fix. Most people would have paid millions of dollars to a consultant, who I probably would not have known, but who would say that he knew me well. The fees would be paid but the job would not have gotten done. When I got the call I said, wow, it’s Tim Apple (Cook!) calling, how big is that? I was very impressed with myself to have the head of Apple calling to “kiss my ass.” Anyway, he explained his problem, a tough one it was, I felt he was right and got it taken care of, quickly and effectively. That was the beginning of a long and very nice relationship. During my five years as President, Tim would call me, but never too much, and I would help him where I could. Years latter, after 3 or 4 BIG HELPS, I started to say to people, anyone who would listen, that this guy is an amazing manager and leader. He makes these calls to me, I help him out (but not always, because he will, on occasion, be too aggressive in his ask!), and he gets the job done, QUICKLY, without a dime being given to those very expensive (millions of dollars!) consultants around town who sometimes get it done, and sometimes don’t. Anyway, Tim Cook had an AMAZING career, almost incomparable, and will go on and continue to do great work for Apple, and whatever else he chooses to work on. Quite simply, Tim Cook is an incredible guy!!! President DONALD J. TRUMP

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MacDailyNews Take: A nice tribute, but the statement, “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,” is a wild overstatement and also just plain wrong.

Imagine where Siri would be today if Steve Jobs had lived longer, staying laser-focused on it while also recognizing the paradigm shift of generative AI far earlier. That’s just one case. Just imagine Steve Jobs making the decisions regarding electric vehicles, VR/AR goggles, future iPhones, Macs, iPads, Apple TVs, Apple Watches, home automation, and products that we – without Steve – have not yet even imagined!

The deep shift of Apple’s manufacturing and supply chain to China — which enabled the massive scaling of iPhone production, tight inventory control, and high margins — was already well underway under Steve Jobs. Cook, as head of operations, executed it brilliantly, but Jobs himself recognized the necessity.

In a 2011 dinner with President Obama, Jobs bluntly explained why iPhones couldn’t realistically be made in the U.S.: America lacked the scale, speed, flexibility, and dense ecosystem of skilled suppliers and engineers that China offered. He stated, “Those jobs aren’t coming back.”

Any competent operations leader in that era, facing the same global realities, would have leaned heavily on China’s manufacturing advantages — just as competitors did. Cook’s excellence in optimizing that system deserves credit for execution and efficiency, but crediting him alone for Apple’s post-Jobs growth ignores that the foundational supply-chain decisions were made with Jobs’ approval and understanding. Apple’s iterative success under Cook was built on the product vision and momentum that Steve Jobs created.

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