The Meal Donald Trump Allegedly Sneaks In To Avoid The Fancy Food At State Dinners
Sam Schroeder
Tue, January 20, 2026 at 9:03 PM UTC
3 min read
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A White House insider shared the go-to meal that President Donald Trump likes to fill up on before attending formal engagements with esteemed guests, and to absolutely no one's surprise, it's a burger. In an episode of the Daily Beast's show "Inside Trump's Head," journalist Michael Wolff said the president eats a burger meal prior to attending state dinners. He reportedly pokes at the fancy food he's routinely served on the job, using the strategy of talking constantly to distract other attendees from noticing that he's barely eating.
Trump has a well-documented love affair with fast food, dating back to his first term when he served a spread of burgers and pizza to the Clemson University football team after they won the college national championship. He favored fast food on the campaign trail for his second term, even stopping to pose for a now-famous photo op with McDonald's fries in hand. Trump has reportedly reasoned that eating fast food makes him relatable to average Americans.
The president's association with fast food earns him both praise and criticism. With his long history of showmanship, some observers, such as the users on Reddit's r/Pics, have even questioned whether his preferences are authentic or endorsed. But as Wolff confirmed, Trump's love for burgers is the real thing — even behind closed doors.
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Mediocre White House food and politicians' preferences unpacked
Further into the episode of "In Trump's Head," Wolff reveals that staff traveling with Trump aboard Air Force One are given care packages of fast food as perks of the job. Apparently, most staff members don't eat the White House food, which Wolff describes as being bland and mass produced in banquet fashion — similar to something served at a wedding. When host Joanna Coles read through a menu of courses served at a 2018 state dinner in honor of French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron, Wolff replied that Trump would not have touched any of it.
While it's not uncommon for what President Trump eats in a typical day to end up in the news or even his personal social media, perhaps lesser known is the fact that former presidents and their inner circles also favored burgers and fries. Fast food appears to have been woven into the culture in Washington for decades. Our list of other politicians who are obsessed with fast food includes Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Ted Cruz, and others. Most figures on our list are noted to blur the lines between business and pleasure when it comes to their love of fast food, similar to the way Trump does.
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Read the original article on Mashed.