During US President Donald Trump’s first stint in the Oval Office, it was widely reported that he’d had a Diet Coke button installed near the presidential desk.
Trump is famously teetotal, with his brother Fred Trump Jr. having died from an alcoholism-related heart attack in 1981.
Instead of reaching for the booze, Trump has developed a lifelong Diet Coke habit, precipitating the red button’s installation.
His return to the Oval Office has thus far been characterised by sweeping and dramatic policy enaction, namely through the broad government cuts brought in by the Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE) spearheaded by the increasingly controversial billionaire Elon Musk, blanket tariffs placed on imports from international trading partners, and heavy involvement in potential peace between Russia and Ukraine.
While many of the actions he’s taken during the first 100 days of his second presidency have been highly controversial both domestically and internationally, revamps to the Oval Office are par for the course.
After all, if you’re moving into an office for four years, it’s fair enough to make it suitable to your needs and preferred creature comforts.
The ostensibly ominous red button was seen on the Resolute Desk, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, but thankfully it’s not got a direct line to any civilisation-ending weaponry.
It’s just a Diet Coke button, but it’s not there to dispense the soft drink at the desk. Instead, it summons a member of staff to bring him a glass of the stuff.
The button was removed by former president Joe Biden in 2021, but Trump wasted no time in having it reinstalled for his second term.
Back in 2017, Trump spoke to the Financial Times about the button, admitting its nuclear connotations makes people uncomfortable.
“Everyone does get a little nervous when I press that button,” he said.
It evokes Mr Burns pressing a button to release the hounds, or perhaps open a trap door underneath an unwitting employee, but thankfully this red button is far less ominous than it looks.
Chris Sims, a former White House communications aide, said Trump would use the button to mess with Oval Office visitors every now and then.
"Out of nowhere, he'd suddenly press the button," Sims wrote in Team of Vipers.
"Not sure what to do, guests would look at one another with raised eyebrows. Moments later, a steward would enter the room carrying a glass filled with Diet Coke on a silver platter, and Trump would burst out laughing."
Imagine waiting for news the world is ending, only for someone to stroll through the door with a glass of Diet Coke.
Featured Image Credit: JIM WATSON / Contributor/Getty Images
Rachael Davis