A former White House chef tells how he tried to get Donald Trump, known for his love of junk food, healthier during his first term.
Chef Andre Rush, who worked in the White House during four administrations and served meals for President Bill Clinton during the newly elected president’s first term, spoke to Politico about the new president’s diet and how to make it healthier in the White House than some might think. have thought.
Trump, 78, has famously been photographed over the years gorging on a range of fast food, from McDonald’s to Kentucky Fried Chicken.
But according to Rush, during his first term he tried to “manipulate” Trump’s meals to make them healthier by substituting similar items.
Rush noted that given the president-elect’s advanced age, he would encourage healthier eating for a second time.
“I would try to include as many healthy foods as possible,” Rush told Politico. “Especially since he’s known for not drinking water.”
“He’s always been on his soda trip. That’s all he drinks, 24/7. He lives on it and says, “It hasn’t hurt me yet.” But that’s a cliché that we all go through until it hurts you,” he added.
President-elect Donald Trump munches on McDonald’s fries
Trump famously had a “Diet Coke button” in the White House so an aide could bring him his favorite drink whenever he wanted.
The chef talked about how he would add flavorings like lemon or orange to Trump’s water to try to get him to drink more of it.
The rush to spill the tea on Trump comes as the president-elect, in his second term, has vowed to “make America healthy again” but famously targeted Kamala Harris with a stunt at a McDonald’s on the campaign trail.
Since the election, he has called Robert Kennedy Jr. nominated as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
But the pair raised eyebrows when they were pictured eating McDonald’s together as they prepared for his second term last month.
Trump with Don Jr., Elon Musk and HHS Secretary nominee Robert Kennedy Jr. who ate McDonald’s last month in a photo his son shared on social media
Trump poses with a table full of fast food in the White House State Dining Room in January 2019 ahead of a reception with the Clemson Tigers
Trump poses with KFC in a photo he posted on Twitter before he was elected president for the first time
Rush shared that while working in the White House, he would also try to make Trump’s burgers healthier for him.
“Instead of using the whole ground, I’m going to go half and half with turkey and put some more (flavor) profiles in there,” Rush told Politico.
Chef Andre Rush cooked for Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump at the White House
“If he wants bacon on it, instead of pork, I would use beef bacon, which is crispier and healthier,” he explained.
Other substitutions he made included swapping sweet potato fries or making battered fries from other vegetables instead of the potato fries that Trump loves.
Rush noted that Clinton ate as many hamburgers as Trump.
He said the 78-year-old Republican did “try to eat healthy,” but people didn’t see that part.
‘They only see the part we want to show on social media,” he noted of Trump.
“A lot of the things he doesn’t eat are because he’s not used to them,” Rush said of the newly elected president.
He encouraged future White House chefs who cooked for Trump to get to know him better so they can understand why he eats what he eats, which will be a good way to get him more involved.
Rush said Trump was the most difficult president he cooked for because “there wasn’t a lot of diversity in it.”
The easiest president he cooked for was President Obama, because the family had a garden in the White House and he wanted to “make the most of the garden.”