Donald Trump buys massive stake in popular sushi chain
Jen Thomas
Featured Image Credit: Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images
Before he became the president of the United States, Donald Trump was known more for his business prowess (and was even the host of the US version of The Apprentice).
Since taking office, he's still keeping his hand in with investments.
He has now made a major investment in a US sushi chain, best known for serving up played on conveyor belts alongside robot servers.
As president, Trump is obliged to share his financial information and which companies he has invested in with the public.
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Bloomberg reports that the latest round of disclosures showed Trump purchased between $1 million and $5 million worth of shares in Kura Sushi USA earlier this year.
News of his investment was good news for the company, and their stock value rose by more than 5% after the investment became public.
The chain is owned by Japan-based parent company Kura Sushi.
The restaurant is hugely popular in Los Angeles, with branches in Little Tokyo, Koreatown, Sawtelle, Arcadia, Glendale, Sherman Oaks and Torrance.
Similar to Yo Sushi in the UK, there is a conveyor belt to bring the food.
If customers want something different to what is on the belt, they can order something from the second 'express' lane.
Kura Sushi calls this option the 'bullet train' and brands the whole experience as 'eater-tainment,' which features a blend of traditional Japanese food with arcade games and anime themed prizes.
Once diners have eaten a certain amount of plates of food, they become eligible to win prizes.
The restaurant frequently goes viral thanks to the robot servers who bring drinks.
Unfortunately, the move might not go down too well with his wife Melania, who is known to hate raw fish - one of the main components of many sushi dishes.
"I made it known that I do not eat raw fish," she admitted in her 2024 memoir Melania.
In addition to the sushi restaurant, the documents reveal Trump has been busy with other investments.
He has made thousands of trades throughout the first quarter.
Trump's purchases include stocks for Nvidia, Apple and Amazon.
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization told the New York Post that 'all of the president’s assets are managed independently by third-party financial institutions responsible for all investment decisions, and that neither Trump himself, his family nor the company is involved in making trading decisions.'
Some social media users proceeded to make jokes asking whether Trump had ever actually eaten sushi.
A renowned fast food lover, Trump is more frequently associated with McDonalds and KFC than with Japanese cuisine.
"Trump isn’t sitting there at his desk trading stocks on his phone. This is on the fund management company," said one commenter.
"I can't imagine Trump picking up chopsticks and trying sushi," said another.
"Didn’t have conveyor belt sushi and politics crossing over on my bingo card, but here we are. Kinda shows how celebrities and politicians keep getting tied into all kinds of business deals now," added another, while one said simply: "Always a businessman!"
Another commenter praised the purchase, saying the president has great taste as they are a big fan of the food from the restaurant.