Trump says 'Tim Apple' comment wasn't a slip of the tongue but 'an easy way to save time & words'

President Donald Trump on Monday claimed that he called Apple CEO Tim Cook "Tim Apple" at the White House last week as a "way to save time," denying that he made a understandable slip of the tongue.

"At a recent round table meeting of business executives, & long after formally introducing Tim Cook of Apple, I quickly referred to Tim + Apple as Tim/Apple as an easy way to save time & words. The Fake News was disparagingly all over this, & it became yet another bad Trump story!" Trump tweeted.

Trump's tweet is the second way in which he denied making a slip of the tongue. According to Axios reporter Jonathon Swan, Trump told a crowd at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida that he actually called the CEO "Tim Cook Apple" but said his pronunciation of "Cook" was especially quiet.

Trump made the comment at a meeting of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board on Wednesday. Trump was applauding Apple for hiring more American workers.

"I mean you've really put a big investment in our country, we appreciate it very much, Tim Apple," Trump said.

Cook himself had fun with the comment, when he replaced his last name with the Apple logo on his Twitter profile.