Donald Trump has raised eyebrows by referring to Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, as “Tim Apple”.

The US president’s blunder came as he was sat next to Mr Cook, who runs one of the world’s biggest companies, during a meeting at the White House.

Mr Trump has long insisted that he has a knack for remembering people’s names.

But during the awkward exchange with the tech boss, he said: “People like Tim – you’re expanding all over and doing things I really wanted you to right from the beginning.

“I used to say, ‘Tim, you’ve got to start doing it over here’ and you really have. You really put a big investment in our country.

“We appreciate it very much, Tim Apple.”

The gaffe elicited no response for Mr Cook, who simply nodded along as he sat next to the president.

Footage from the meeting has gone viral, with more than 3.6 million people watching it so far.

One sarcastic viewer wrote on Twitter: “Tim Apple is an American icon just like the famous innovators Thomas Lightbulb and Henry Car.”

Another added: “Tim Cook. Should have replied Thank you Mr Donald Duck.”

This is not the first time that Mr Trump has referred to high-flying chief executives by the name of their companies.

Last year, he referred to Lockheed Martin chief executive Marillyn Hewson as Marillyn Lockheed.

At a recent news conference, he also addressed a Kurdish reporter as “Mr Kurd” – and referred to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “Betanyahu”.

Mr Trump even gets the names of his close aides wrong – repeatedly referring to Paul Ryan as “Ron”.

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