Because the partial government shutdown has left “much of the residence staff at the White House” furloughed during the Clemson football team’s White House visit on Monday, President Donald Trump brought fast food for the national champions, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday.
“The President wanted to host a fun event to celebrate the College Football National Champion Clemson Tigers,” Sanders said in a statement that blamed Democrats for the shutdown. She added: “Much of the residence staff at the White House is furloughed – so the President is personally paying for the event to be catered with some of everyone’s favorite fast foods.”
Yahoo News’ Hunter Walker noted in a pool report that “the pool was ushered into the dining room at about 5:50 p.m. where we saw President Trump standing behind a table piled high with burgers from McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King.”
“Trump explained that this was ‘great American food’ for the football players,” Walker added. “Your pooler asked him which restaurant is his favorite and he said he liked them all.”
“If it’s American I like it. It’s all American Stuff,” Trump responded.
Here’s a video I shot of President Trump showing off his 300 hamburgers. pic.twitter.com/P06S6I5w07
— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) January 14, 2019
Trump also provided Domino’s pizza and fries, per the pool report.
Reuters’ Roberta Rampton tweeted a photo of the spread:
POTUS with “great American food” for Clemson Tigers visiting WH. pic.twitter.com/VgmQeXNhk6
— Roberta Rampton (@robertarampton) January 14, 2019