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Donald Trump praised Apple CEO Tim Cook in a candid post after his exit announcement, recalling their first call as Cook trying to ‘kiss my ass’. Trump said Cook avoided lobbyists, called him directly for help, and delivered results quickly. He added Apple performed better under Cook than it would have under Steve Jobs.

President Donald Trump paid an effusive, and characteristically unfiltered, tribute to Apple CEO Tim Cook, hours after the tech giant announced Cook would be stepping down from the company's top job later this year.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump recalled the origins of his relationship with Cook in vivid terms, describing the Apple chief's first phone call to the White House as Cook ringing him up to 'kiss my ass.' Trump, who said he was struck by the significance of receiving a call from the head of Apple, added that he was 'very impressed' at the time.

The post went on to paint a portrait of a quietly productive Washington relationship, one that Trump said bypassed the expensive consultants and lobbyists who typically navigate the corridors of presidential power. Cook, Trump wrote, would call him personally when Apple ran into trouble, explain the problem clearly, and then 'get the job done, QUICKLY' once Trump intervened.

"Most people would have paid millions of dollars to a consultant," Trump wrote, adding that the go-betweens would claim to know him well - but rarely deliver results. Cook, by contrast, picked up the phone himself.