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Apple CEO trumps Trump, reframing his name game

FILE - In this Wednesday, March 6, 2019 file photo, President Donald Trump talks to Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook during the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board's first meeting in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. To President Donald Trump, it was an awkward slip of the lip. To Apple CEO Tim Cook, it was an opportunity to poke some lighthearted fun at a president who has often clashed with the tech industry. A day after Trump mistakenly referred to Cook at a Wednesday White House meeting as "Tim Apple" - an understandable slip, perhaps, coming from the head of the Trump Organization - Cook quietly changed his Twitter account, replacing his last name with the Apple logo. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

SAN FRANCISCO — To President Donald Trump, it was an awkward slip of the lip. To Apple CEO Tim Cook, it was an opportunity to poke some sly fun.

A day after Trump mistakenly referred to Cook at a White House meeting as “Tim Apple” — an understandable slip, perhaps, coming from the owner of the Trump Organization — Cook quietly altered his Twitter profile, replacing his last name with the Apple logo.

Cook didn’t publicly acknowledge the change, but it didn’t take long for Apple fans to notice and spread the word.

Non-Apple fans, though, may not get the joke. Cook’s Apple-logo icon is only visible on iPhones and Mac computers. On Windows, it’s a blank square; on Android, it renders variously as an X-ed out or blank grey rectangle.

Rachel Lerman, The Associated Press