Donald Trump orders McDonald’s feast with ‘300 hamburgers and many, many French fries’ to State Dining Room
The President personally paid for the fast food, blaming the partial government shutdown for a lack of catering staff
Donald Trump ordered a fast food feast to the White House last night consisting of burgers, fries, and pizza for a reception held in honour of a champion college American football team – and blamed the partial government shutdown for a lack of catering staff.
President Trump personally paid for more than 300 burgers from McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s, as well a pizzas and fries, to welcome college football national champions the Clemson Tigers to the State Dining Room.
“Because of the shutdown, we went out and we ordered American fast food paid for by me,” he told reporters.
“We have pizzas, we have 300 hamburgers, many, many French fries, all of our favourite foods.
“I want to see what’s here when we leave, because I don’t think it’s going to be much.”
Fries branded with presidential seal
It is unclear how much President Trump paid for the feast, but at market price the 300 burgers alone would cost more than $1,000 (£777).
The burgers were laid out in their packets on silver platters alongside golden candle holders. The small polystyrene pots of fries were branded with the presidential seal.
More than 800,000 public sector workers, including residential White House staff, have been affected by the unprecedented 24-day partial government shutdown.
They have been on mandatory leave or working without pay, as President Trump refuses to approve the federal budget unless funds are included for a $5.7bn (£4.5bn) wall along the Mexican border.
Speaking at a farming convention in New Orleans earlier in the day the President said: “When it comes to keeping the American people safe, I will never, ever back down.”
Canadians pay for air traffic controllers’ pizza
President’ Trump’s feast isn’t the only fast food-related shutdown news. Canadian air traffic controllers have been sending their US counterparts pizzas, as they’ve been forced to work for free throughout the shutdown.
Air traffic controllers are among the 450,000 employees who are unable to suspend their jobs due to safety risks.
Peter Duffy, president of the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association, said yesterday that around 300 pizzas had been delivered to 49 control centres across the US.
“It was a true grassroots movement,” he said. “They talk to those people daily on the phone… so they consider them co-workers and they said, hey, let’s send them some pizza.”
