A chef who worked in the White House Kitchen during President Donald Trump’s first term in office has revealed the most surprising thing about the Republican’s diet - and it may not be what you think.
The 79-year-old is known for virtually skipping breakfast, apart from indulging in the odd McDonald’s Egg McMuffin or chowing down on a plate of bacon and eggs, according to the book Let Trump Be Trump, written by former campaign officials Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie.
Other dietary staples include meatloaf, cans of Diet Coke - a fizzy drink adoration he shares with his wife, Melania Trump - shrimp cocktails, and well-done steak slathered in ketchup, as per The Take Out.
Trump is also a pizza fan - or at least likes the toppings, according to an interview with US Weekly in 2010. "I scrape the toppings off my pizza — I never eat the dough,” he confided.
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Dessert-wise, the father-of-five is not known to have the biggest sweet tooth, but vowed in October 2024 that he’d make sure McDonald’s ice cream machines would be fixed.
At the time of writing, 53.85 percent of machines are broken in Corpus Christi, Texas, and 42.86 percent aren't working in Pensacola, Florida, according to McBroken. Clearly, there's still work to be done.
While Trump’s affinity for fast food is well-documented, it turns out he actually may eat a healthier, more balanced diet than we first thought.
Introducing Andre Rush, a former White House kitchen chef who also worked under ex-Presidents of the United States Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.
Speaking to the West Wing Playbook, the culinary expert claimed that pizza, McDonald’s burgers, and pints of ice cream didn’t make up the whole bulk of Trump’s daily menu, as per Politico.
When asked what would ‘surprise’ readers about the businessman’s food habits, Rush explained: “He gets so much flack about the unhealthy side of him.
“He does try to eat healthy, but people don’t get to see that part of it. They just see the part that we want to show on social media.”
He added: “I mean, Bill Clinton ate just as many burgers as Donald Trump did.”
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Elsewhere in the interview, Rush alleged the President didn’t enjoy snacking and that he’d always try to make his meals ‘more healthy’.
“Let’s say he wants a burger. Instead of doing full grounds, I’ll go half and half with turkey and put a little bit more [flavour] profiles inside of it,” the gastronome confessed.
“If he wants bacon on it, instead of pork, I’d use beef bacon, which is more crispy and more healthy.”
Trump's wife, Melania, 55, takes a different approach to her diet. She eats around seven portions of fruit daily, prioritises water, and occasionally enjoys eating dark chocolate.
Both she and her spouse have an aversion to raw fish. During a 2019 trip to Japan, the Imperial Palace prepared a six-course meal by blending Western and Japanese dishes with no sushi to accommodate their preferences.
Ella Scott