Ever since Donald Trump won the Presidency in 2016 with his controversial – but high-popular – “Make America Great Again” campaign, the former reality TV star’s private life has been in the public eye more than ever before. And, his diet, in particular, has become a great source of fascination after it was alleged that it was full of fast food and high-calorie meals.
According to various sources, Donald Trump is not a fan of breakfast and actively tries to avoid it, but, if forced, Trump typically opts for eggs, bacon, or even a McMuffin from McDonald’s. Whether it’s a breakfast of champions or a dietician’s worst nightmare, Trump definitely knows what he likes.
Like many aspects of Trump’s personal and professional life, the president’s diet has become the subject of much debate, with some claiming that the president’s high-protein diet could increase pressure on his organs. On the other hand, many celebrate his diet choices and respect his tendency to eat what he likes, regardless of medical opinions.
A Notorious Diet
An awful lot has been written and stated about Trump’s diet over the last few years. Some reports suggest that his major sources of food are McDonald’s and KFC, while others indicate that Trump fears visiting independent restaurants because he wants to avoid being poisoned.
Reports generally indicate that Trump often gets hung-up on issues of cleanliness and hygiene, and genuinely believes that chains like McDonald’s are more hygienic than other places.
On one occasion, when White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave a restaurant in Virginia, Trump even jumped on Twitter and defended her, saying:
“The Red Hen Restaurant should focus more on cleaning its filthy canopies, doors and windows (badly needs a paint job) rather than refusing to serve a fine person like Sarah Huckabee Sanders. I always had a rule, if a restaurant is dirty on the outside, it is dirty on the inside!”
Trump’s affinity for places like McDonald’s is deeply entrenched and he was once said to have his order down to a T. After allegedly going 14-16 hours without eating, Trump would occasionally have two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, and a chocolate milkshake to wash it all down, altogether amounting to 2,430 calories.
However, regardless of the president’s thoughts on cleanliness and hygiene, he has faced calls from medical professionals to consider changing his diet.
Following a check-up by Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson, it was revealed that Trump was just one pound below obesity. This public revelation prompted Trump to allegedly make a change in his lifestyle and start eating more soups and salads instead.
It was also alleged that Ronny Jackson had taken measures into his own hands and tried to improve Trump’s diet without the president noticing. To do this, the doctor would put cauliflower in his mashed potatoes and make “ice cream less accessible”.
Trump’s efforts to improve his diet also included removing one half of the bun from the burgers he ordered and only eating the toppings on pizzas and throwing away the doe.
“Great American Food”
While journalists around the world have been whipped up into a frenzy about Trump’s diet and lifestyle, all the revelations and oddities concerning the president’s eating habits usually just end up feeding into Trump’s infamous “Make America Great Again” ideology, which champions the everyday American and the country’s big fast-food chains among other things.
Although widely ridiculed and humiliated in the media, Trump hasn’t batted an eyelid and continues to largely favor food products from big-chains. The president is also said to be a big fan of Diet Coke and can consume as many as 12 cans per day.
Many political analysts tend to see Trump’s diet choices as a political maneuver more than anything, keeping him connected to the lives of the ordinary man. After all, according to one report in 2018, a third of all Americans eat fast food on any given day, suggesting that Trump’s dining options are extremely relatable.
When hosting the national college champion football team at the White House one time, Trump served the players and staff a banquet of fast food from a number of different chains. Upon serving, Trump said: “Great American Food! We have pizzas, we have 300 hamburgers, many, many french fries. All of our favorite foods!”
And, in terms of his health, Trump doesn’t exactly seem too worried about the opinions of medical professionals. In fact, Ronny Jackson once stated: “if he had a healthier diet over the last 20 years, he might live to be 200 years old”.