What does Donald Trump eat
The oldest American president ever eats mostly junk food, as far as we know: it's quick, it's hygienic, and it works in politics
The radical change of Donald Trump's presidency compared to that of Barack Obama also comes out in a lateral and less relevant area, on which the Obamas have focused a lot: healthy nutrition to combat overweight and obesity too common among Americans . It is not yet known whether Trump will officially pursue such policies, but at least for now he has no intention of promoting them by personal example, given his passion for junk food - the so-called "junk food", made up of fried, fatty foods , unhealthy and high-calorie - which he repeated several times in the electoral campaign and brought, after taking office, also inside the White House. As president of the United States, Trump has five full-time chefs at his disposal, but unless he changes his eating habits, chances are they won't be very busy.
Trump often skips breakfast: when he does it, he eats eggs with bacon or corn flakes. He prefers to have a quick lunch at his desk, and his biggest meal is often dinner (what nutritionists think should be the lightest). Among his favorite meals are those served by McDonald's: he said he loves the fish sandwich, the Big Mac or the Quarter Pounder (ie two classic burgers), served on silver trays on his private jet. "It's good stuff," he said in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper. In one of the most famous photos of the election campaign he was portrayed aboard his plane eating a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken (but with a fork and knife, arousing a lot of irony).
Trump explained that he loves fast food because it is fast, and because it guarantees a certain standard of quality: «I am a very clean person. I like cleanliness, and I think you are more comfortable going there than somewhere you have no idea where the food comes from. ' The importance of hygiene for Trump was well documented during the election campaign: in particular his reluctance to shake hands with strangers, a practically unavoidable practice for a US president. In addition to fast food, Trump loves meatloaf (of which he still keeps his mother's recipe), spaghetti, chicken salads and Coke Light. He gets the overcooked steaks cooked: "they banged against the plate, they were so cooked," explained his historic butler.
There are those who have read a certain provincialism and immaturity in Trump's food tastes: "he is the classic guy from Queens who made it across the river and reached the glittering skyline of Manhattan, but never understood its significance. haute cuisine, ”wrote the New York Times. Trump's diet is profoundly American, and according to many observers, it mainly provokes identification in middle-class voters, as explained Russ Shriefer, a Republican political consultant: "There is nothing more American and closer to the people than fast food" . Kellyanne Conway, a prominent Trump adviser and strategist, also linked her food preferences to his authenticity during the election campaign.
As we said, Trump's habits are the furthest away from those of the Obamas. Michelle Obama has made campaigning for proper nutrition and exercise one of the most important aspects of her political activity in the eight years of her stay in the White House Barack Obama, who ate a few toasted almonds every night in his studio as a snack, he always kept apples in the Oval Office and imposed a certain limitation on junk food. A Trump aide said he had never seen him snack on fresh or dried fruit, but only with chips and Keebler Vienna Fingers, vanilla cream cookies, both of which are always present on his planes. He used to like Oreos, but since production moved from the United States to Mexico he hasn't eaten them anymore. Trump seems to treat food primarily as a problem that must be solved, quickly and as satisfactorily as possible. Her daughter Ivanka Trump, speaking of her father's faults, once explained that she would like him to eat more slowly.
Political journalist Mike Allen reports the stories of some of Trump's assistants and friends about his eating habits: he is obsessed with his physical appearance but at the same time he does not eat healthy, do sports and sleep very little. He drinks Coca Cola Light all day and, as an assistant put it, he has "three staples": Domino's pizza, KFC's fried chicken, and McDonald's food. Another assistant to him assures that since he is president he has changed habits: he still drinks a lot of Coca Cola Light but has decreased the frequency with which he eats fast food. A friend is keen to point out that it is true that Trump often eats steak and potatoes, “but he also really likes fish and seafood, such as crabs and shrimps. Things like that. And he eats the salad, for example the Cobb salad "(which in addition to vegetables has bacon, chicken breast, boiled eggs, anchovies and Roquefort cheese).
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said the two once ate together at a luxury Manhattan restaurant. Trump ordered the dishes for both of them directly from the chef as soon as he arrived, without giving Christie a choice: "You'll like them, you'll see," he told him. A few years ago he went with former Alaska governor Sarah Palin to a pizzeria in Times Square, and had his photograph taken while he ate only the toppings with fork and knife, leaving the rest on his plate. Years later he said it was a way of trying to cut calories: "I take the sauce off the pizza, I never eat pasta." Comedian Jon Stewart teased him about that episode by referring to his old campaign for Obama to present his birth certificate, claiming he was born in Africa: "Seeing how you eat pizza, Donald, I want to see your birth certificate. . I don't think you were really born in New York. '
Trump even proposed cutting state dinners, suggesting that "we should eat hamburgers while we work, at conference tables, and we should make better deals with China and with others and forget about state dinners." However, a diet like Trump's also carries with it the well-known problems associated with junk food: especially when it concerns the oldest president in the history of the United States. Dietitian Jo Travers told the Guardian that the absence of omega-3s from Trump's diet, at least as we know it, is not good for his brain.
Omega-3 are the fats contained for example in fish: «his body will replace them with other types of fats, which are less fluid, making the work of neurotransmitters more difficult. This is linked to mood disorders ". Then there is the problem of breakfast, which, as is often repeated, is an important meal (even if overrated, after all), and bacon and burnt meat, foods that increase the risk of contracting cancer. Meatloaf and hamburgers, one of Trump's favorite meals, are high in protein but lack carbohydrates and fiber, which are important elements in the diet, Travers explained: immune system and this can lead to infections'. And finally, there is the problem of the fats contained in junk food, which increase the risk of heart problems.
Trump also does not do any kind of sporting activity, apart from a little golf every now and then, and only travels by car: his main activity is always and only work. He also sleeps very little, no more than four hours, as told by a former assistant who received his calls at 1:30 am and then again at 4:30 am. Among all these unhealthy habits there are also some positive ones: he does not smoke, does not drink coffee, nor alcohol, so much so that the only cocktail he drinks is a non-alcoholic version of the Bloody Mary, tomato juice and ice.
