Trump Backs Tim Cook as Potential Nvidia CEO After Exit

Following the surprising resignation of Jensen Huang as Nvidia CEO on Thursday, former US president Donald Trump suggested that Tim Cook, the recently stepped-down Apple chief, would be a suitable successor. Trump posted on Truth Social that "only one person can fill Huang's shoes: Tim Cook of Apple," adding, "one legend replaces another legend."

How the suggestion unfolded and the context

Trump repeated the idea while appearing on the Straight Shooter podcast, defending Cook as an option and saying that although "no one is irreplaceable," replacing Huang would be difficult. In a quoted remark he said: "This morning an idea came to me: Tim Cook. He has partly stepped back from Apple. Cook has one of the best managerial records in business history. I think if Steve Jobs were still alive, Apple would never have reached its current position. Tim Cook took many of Jobs's and others' brilliant ideas, designs and achievements and, in a relatively short time, turned them into one of the world's biggest companies. I think Tim Cook would be a very good choice to run Nvidia."

Cook led Apple as CEO for 15 years and on September 1, 2026 he stepped down from the chief executive role, though he remains prominent at the company. John Ternus succeeded him as Apple CEO while Cook was named executive chair of the board. In that capacity he continues to engage with policymakers worldwide and to manage Apple's international relationships, including its ties with China.

Trump is not the only observer to name Cook as a conceivable candidate. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean for leadership studies at Yale School of Management, suggested in a note for Time that Cook could be considered, writing that Cook has "an unrivaled record in succeeding a larger-than-life founder," a reference to his succession of Steve Jobs.

It remains unclear whether Trump is making a serious recruitment push or simply offering a spur-of-the-moment suggestion. The former president also noted, wryly, that "Team Nvidia" does not roll off the tongue the way his earlier formulation "Team Apple" once did when addressing Cook.

Huang resigned after disclosures about an alleged relationship with a Chinese intelligence operative and the possibility that sensitive information may have been exposed. Some sources have named Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies, as a potential internal candidate to succeed Huang at Nvidia.