Apple CEO Tim Cook’s ‘Thank You’ goes viral at tech CEOs White House dinner

Apple CEO Tim Cook was among the group at a White House dinner for tech leaders hosted by US President Donald Trump. While reports of Trump's conversations with executives like Google's Sundar Pichai have circulated, a video of Cook has gone viral and is drawing attention for one reason: he repeatedly says “thank you”, with viewers pointing out that he used the phrase about eight times in less than two minutes.

The exchange began with Trump praising the Apple CEO: “Tim Cook, you have done an incredible job with the little company called Apple.”

Cook responded, “Thank you, Mr. President.”

When Trump continued, “Very few people have been able to do what you have done. And congratulations,” Cook again simply replied, “Thank you.”

Tim Cook’s ‘flood of gratitude’

Cook’s expressions of gratitude continued at length, filled with more “Thank you.”

“I want to thank you for including me this evening. It is incredible to be among everyone here, particularly you and the First Lady," he said.

“I’ve always enjoyed having dinner and interacting. I want to thank you for setting the tone such that we could make a major investment in the United States and have advanced manufacturing here. I think that says a lot about your leadership and focus on innovation,” he said.

Cook also expressed his appreciation for the administration's support for American companies abroad and for the First Lady's focus on education, which he called “the great equaliser.”

Apple’s $600 billion investment in the US

The conversation reached a peak when Trump directly asked Cook about Apple's investment plans. "Tim, how much money will Apple be investing in the United States? I know it’s a very large amount. You were elsewhere before, and now you’re really coming home in a big way. How much money will you be investing?"

Cook replied with a precise figure: “$600 billion.” Trump responded with a "thank you," which was immediately followed by two more "thank you" from Cook.