Donald Trump really wants Tim Cook to run Nvidia

is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.

Jensen Huang resigned this morning as Nvidia’s CEO following reports of affairs, including one with an alleged Chinese spy. Right now, the company is being led by its CFO on an interim basis. But President Donald Trump is already throwing around one person he thinks should take over the chipmaking giant: former Apple CEO Tim Cook, who stepped down from leading the company on September 1st and moved into an executive chairman role.

Shortly after Huang’s resignation was announced today, Trump posted his idea about Cook on Truth Social: “NOW THAT Nvidia CEO JENSEN HUANG, who has done a fantastic job, has resigned, there is only one man to take his place - TIM COOK of Apple,” Trump said. “A Legend replaces a Legend!”

In a new episode of Stephen A. Smith’s Straight Shooter podcast published today, Trump made his pitch for Cook again, saying that Apple “would never be what it is today” if Steve Jobs was still “around”:

Can [Huang] be replaced?

Well, you know, the expression, Anybody can be replaced? So it’s very hard to replace him, but I had an idea this morning that I sort of just released: Tim Cook. He just sort of semi-retired from Apple. He’s done one of the greatest jobs in the history of business.

I think if Tim Cook, who built Apple… If Steve Jobs were around, Apple would never be what it is today. Tim Cook took a lot of these brilliant ideas and designs and everything else from Jobs and others, and he made it into one of the great companies of the world in a fairly short period. I think Tim Cook would be a great candidate to run Nvidia.

Apple and Nvidia didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. Cook is well-known for his ongoing relationship with President Trump, including gifting the president a 24k gold and glass statue last year. (Trump, after Cook announced his transition plan earlier this year, posted a story about having “the head of Apple calling to ‘kiss my ass.’”)

During the podcast, Trump said he spoke to Huang yesterday and that Huang is “going through hell”:

Should [Huang] have stepped down?

Well, the big thing is, was the woman a spy, and I don’t know if that’s been determined yet, but if the woman was a spy, yes, if the woman was not a spy, perhaps it would be different.

But I can tell you this. Somehow, he’ll end up on his feet. I mean, I know him, I know him pretty well. I always thought of him as a fine man.

I spoke to him yesterday. He’s going through hell. What he feels most badly about is his wife and family. That’s what he is, really… that’s what he told me. I’m president, and he called me. And he said, What I’ve done to my wife and family is... That’s what he talked about.

Trump, on the podcast, called Huang a “tremendous talent.” Other tech leaders have also publicly supported Huang following his resignation.

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