Donald Trump’s diet has fascinated people as much as his chaotic first term and campaign. It was an era marked by criminal convictions, impeachment and civil lawsuits, alongside a diet redolent of Supersize Me. Now Trump is back for his second term — and presumably, so are his eating habits.
Trump keeps to a strange daily routine. Breakfasts are reported to be nearly non-existent, save for the odd McMuffin or some bacon and eggs, and in the book Let Trump be Trump, written by former campaign officials Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, apparently lunch is out too. The pair stated it was common for the then-presidential candidate to go up to 16 hours a day without eating.
So a big meal at dinner then? If it’s the golden arches then President Trump’s order is two Big Macs, two Filet-o-fish and a chocolate milkshake, which sounds appalling. Or there’s his penchant for meatloaf, the American staple of ground meat and herbs which gets moulded into a loaf tin and cooked to a grey milieu.
Trump is also said to like his steaks well done — read: ruined — and served with ketchup.
Otherwise? KFC, New York style cheese pizza, Wendy’s fast food and ice cream have all been said to be among the 45th and now 47th US President’s favourites. It’s a list that reads more like the menu options for an 11-year-olds birthday party than the diet of the leader of the free world. Speaking of diet, he doesn’t imbibe booze, tea or coffee, only drinking Diet Coke, with the New York Times reported he downs a dozen of them a day.
When the visiting President came to the UK, the state dinners were a vast improvement by his standards. One, hosted by then PM Teresa May, was cooked by Jason Atherton with a menu which featured a starter of Paignton Harbour crab and turnip, with a crab bisque, followed by a main course of Lake District beef with aubergine.
Another dinner saw a starter of tomatoes and burrata, before the ubiquitous beef, while a meal with the late Queen featured a halibut with watercress and asparagus starter, before a saddle of spring lamb. These mark the only tolerable inclusions in his intake.
Here’s how to eat like (or better than) The Donald here in London, should you really wish to. Watch out for your heart health.
McDonald’s
The two-time President loves the US restaurant behemoth. In the memoir written by Michael Wolff — Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House — a reason is cited, at least in part: apparently Trump has a fear of being poisoned. His go-to order (two Big Macs two Filet-o-Fish and a large chocolate shake) never changes, and a Big Mac is a Big Mac, no matter which of the 200 McDonalds restaurants you might wish to opt for in London.
However, if you want a burger done better, maybe opt for something delicious from Black Bear (across London, blackbearburger.com), Junk (W1D, junkburgers.co.uk) or Supernova (W1F, supernovaburger.com) instead. A Filet-o-Fish is unrivalled, but a black cod bao bun from BAO (across London, baolondon.com) will deliver.
KFC
The Colonel is another fast food favourite of the amber-haired President; he was fairly recently pictured on a plane tucking into a bucket of tenders. As with McDonald’s, there are a huge number of KFC branches here in town — more than 145 — for you to pop to, or opt for excellent fried chicken from the boys at FOWL (SW1Y, fowlrestaurant.com) or a flattened tender which is actually tender from Good Friend (WC2H, chinatown.co.uk).
Wendy’s
The American import Wendy’s is, by comparison, far less common with only 40 or so locations in the UK and only a handful in London. If you don’t happen to live in Croydon, Fulham or Camden, but you’ve got a hankering for great American fast food then Five Guys (across London, fiveguys.co.uk) is a cracking alternative, or opt for something altogether more home-grown at Bleecker Burger (across London, bleecker.co.uk). These patties won’t, sadly, be square.
State dinners
While you’re unlikely to nab an invite to dine at Windsor or Winfield House any time soon, if you fancied dining on similar fare (seasonal, if predictable) in a state banquet setting, then the Goring (SW1W, thegoring.com) and the Savoy Grill (WC2R, gordonramsayrestaurants.com) are solid bets.
Otherwise for something a little more elevated, the Trump-approved cooking of Jason Atherton is on show at his new restaurants Row on 5 (W1S, rowon5london.com) and Sael (SW1Y, saellondon.com). Read our review of the latter here.
Steak dinners
Lets face it, if you’re eating well done steak with ketchup, you’re not going to be dining at any of London’s top steakhouses. But for those who’d prefer to eat like an adult, then Goodman (across London, goodmanrestaurants.com), Lurra (W1H, lurra.co.uk), Hawksmoor (across London, thehawksmoor.com) and Blacklock (across London, theblacklock.com) are where you should be ordering a properly raised, properly delicious steak within the rare-to-medium bracket.
Pizza Hut
Yet another huge US-originated chain, there are some 63 Pizza Hut restaurants in London, so replicating Donald Trump's favoured order — reported as “a cheese pizza”, but pictues suggest a Margherita — shouldn’t be too hard. There are, though, plenty of great pizza places across town, and for every style (New Haven, New York, Neapolitan, fried) there’s a home for it somewhere. It’s been reported the President also likes a “New York” style, which can be found in one of the Alley Cats (W1U, SW3, alleycatspizza.co.uk) locations.
Ice Cream
Rounding off the kids menu which makes up the absurd diet of the leader of the free world, is ice cream. There are few reports of the exact style or brand he favours, but given his penchant for blandness and predictability, vanilla and chocolate from Häagen-Dazs, Baskin-Robbins or Ben & Jerry’s would probably be a safe bet. There are a couple of Ben and Jerry’s (across London, benjerry.co.uk) in London otherwise for something altogether more enjoyable, the newly opened Dreamery (N1, dreamery.london) serves cocktails and ice cream and in equal measure.
