- President Donald Trump has some very specific food preferences.
- Though Trump is sure to avoid foods like alcohol and pizza dough, he isn’t shy about sharing his love for fast food and Diet Coke during public appearances.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump’s food habits have caught multiple headlines over the years for some preferences that came off as specific and perhaps unexpected.
The president dodges alcohol, coffee, and the dough in a slice of pizza, but has been public with his favorites, including Diet Coke, fast food, and cherry-vanilla ice cream.
Here are some of Trump’s favorite meals, snacks, and treats.
Bacon and eggs
Trump has said he often skips breakfast, but if he goes for an early meal, his favorite is bacon and eggs. He told People in 2015 he prefers the “bacon medium and the eggs over-well.”
McDonald's Egg McMuffins
During the 2016 presidential election, Trump occasionally needed fuel early in the day, which reportedly came from one of his preferred restaurants. Politico reported that a former bodyguard would run to a McDonald's near the Marine Air Terminal in Queens to fetch him some Egg McMuffins.
Cereal
Trump touted an affinity for patriotic cereals in an interview with Fox News' Jesse Watters while on the 2016 campaign trail in Iowa, conveniently saying he preferred cereals from the corn-heavy state.
"Made in the USA, has to be made in the USA," he said. "You know, the cornflake-type stuff, Raisin Bran. Has to be right out of the fields of Iowa."
Diet Coke
Since the president doesn't drink coffee, tea, or alcohol, he dedicates plenty of his palate to the fizzy stuff. The New York Times reported that Trump downs approximately a dozen Diet Cokes each day.
The habit has been on public display throughout his presidency, as he's notably forgone traditional toasts with wine and champagne for a glass of Diet Coke.
The president likes the soda so much that it's been reported he has a "little red button" in the Resolute Desk that, when pushed, prompts a butler to bring him a fresh Diet Coke.
Well-done steak
Anthony Senecal, Trump's longtime butler, told The New York Times that the president likes his steak so well done, "it would rock on the plate."
KFC
It wasn't a surprise when Trump tweeted a photo of himself next to a bucket of KFC in the last months of the 2016 presidential campaign, considering his well-known track record with fast food.
The spread appeared to come from the chain's bucket meal menu, which includes options for up to 16 pieces of fried chicken with biscuits and sides that can feed four to eight people.
Meatloaf
Trump told US Weekly in 2010 that his older sister Maryanne makes meatloaf for him on his birthday. The dish took center stage when Donald and Melania Trump stopped by Martha Stewart's cooking show in 2005 to demonstrate how one does "Meatloaf with The Donald."
The now-first lady said during the segment that Trump's favorite foods are mostly meat and fish, but not "much vegetables."
Seafood
Though he's best known for his red meat habit, Trump reportedly enjoys crab and shrimp, as well.
McDonald's
According to two former campaign aides, president's typical order is a 2,430-calorie spread that includes two Big Macs, two Filet-o-Fish sandwiches, and a large chocolate shake.
A former aide told Politico that Trump would often order "two quarter-pounders and a large fries" during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump's love for McDonald's, and fast food as a whole, could be explained by what a former aide said was a near-constant fear of being poisoned.
Trump has also previously said he prefers fast-food chains because of their cleanliness standards.
"One bad hamburger, you can destroy McDonald's. One bad hamburger and you take Wendy's and all these other places and they're out of business," Trump said at a 2016 town hall. "I like cleanliness, and I think you're better off going there than maybe someplace that you have no idea where the food is coming from."
Pizza
"On Trump Force One there were four major food groups: McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, pizza and Diet Coke," former top Trump aides Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie wrote in their book about the 2016 campaign.
Although Trump famously starred in a Pizza Hut stuffed crust commercial in 1995, he has said in the past he doesn't eat the crust.
Trump Grill Taco Bowl
Trump picked out the bowl from the menu of the Trump Grill for his infamous 2016 tweet marking Cinco de Mayo and to announce that he "love[s] Hispanics!"
Business Insider's Kate Taylor and Hollis Johnson previously reported that the $19 novelty item made them feel "bamboozled into paying more than twice as much for something that Qdoba does better," casting down on Trump's tweet that proclaimed they were the "best."
Lay's potato chips
The kitchen in the residency is reportedly stocked with Lay's potato chips, The New York Times reported in January 2017.
Keebler Vienna Fingers and Oreos
In the book, "Let Trump Be Trump," two former Trump campaign aides wrote that Trump kept Oreos and vanilla Vienna Fingers by Keebler on hand as a plane snack.
See's Candies
Trump has touted his soft spot for sweet snacks from See's Candies before, and the Bay-area company was one of several who was targeted for boycotts by those who wanted to oppose Trump's presidency.
Cherry-vanilla ice cream
Trump told US Weekly in 2010 that this was his favorite ice cream flavor, and it was featured on the menu for his inauguration celebration dinner years later.
When Time profiled life at the White House shortly after Trump took office, the magazine reported Trump got "two scoops of vanilla ice cream with his chocolate cream pie, instead of the single scoop for everyone else."
Chocolate cake
Trump said he told Chinese President Xi Jinping about the April 2017 US strike on Syria over chocolate cake at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
"We're now having dessert. And we had the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you've ever seen and President Xi was enjoying it," Trump told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo. "And I was given the message from the generals that the ships are locked and loaded, what do you do? And we made a determination to do it, so the missiles were on the way."