How did former Trump employees describe his eating habits?
Executive summary
Former campaign aides and staff portray Donald Trump as a prolific fast-food eater who favored McDonald’s, pizza, KFC and Diet Coke, stocked planes with individually packaged snacks and demanded reproductions of his favorite fast-food items from White House chefs, while other accounts say he ate better at Mar‑a‑Lago or the White House and underwent a physician’s checkup that found him in “excellent health” [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. The fast‑food obsession, as told by campaign aides
Two of Trump’s former campaign aides, David Bossie and Corey Lewandowski, wrote in Let Trump Be Trump that Trump’s on‑the‑road diet centered on McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, pizza and Diet Coke, even recounting a single McDonald’s order of “two Big Macs, two Filet‑O‑Fish and a chocolate malted,” a detail repeated across outlets and used to characterize his taste for high‑calorie fast food [2] [1] [5].
2. Snacks, germaphobia and the mobile pantry
Former staff described the campaign plane as a rolling snack cabinet stocked with Vienna Fingers, Oreos, potato chips and pretzels because, they wrote, Trump — a self‑described germaphobe — would not eat from packages once opened, a small but telling detail used by aides to explain why constant, individually wrapped junk food accompanied his travel [1] [6] [2].
3. Specific preferences and oddities in the dining playbook
Beyond fast food, Trump’s palate included well‑done steaks eaten with ketchup, chocolate malted shakes, and a habit of skipping breakfast long stretches (as long as 14–16 hours, one former campaign official said), while aides also describe moments of impatience around others’ orders that reinforced the image of curated, fast‑food‑centric meals on the trail [7] [6] [1].
4. Domestic kitchen: chefs, recreations and attempts to steer him healthier
Accounts from aides and at least one former White House chef say staff tried to accommodate his preferences by recreating Quarter Pounder–style burgers or serving hearty home‑style fare like burgers, tacos and meatloaf, with chefs reportedly nudging him toward healthier options even as campaign‑era demands focused on fast‑food staples [1] [8].
5. Contrasts and context: on the road versus at residence
Some contemporaneous commentators and officials have noted a distinction between Trump’s campaign‑trail eating and what he reportedly eats at Mar‑a‑Lago or in the White House; Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for example, said Trump often consumed fast food on the road because he trusted it, but that he ate “really good food” when at home bases, and medical reporting after a White House physical described the president as in “excellent health,” a counterpoint to the junk‑food narrative [3] [4].
6. Why aides’ accounts matter — and their limits
The picture of Trump’s eating habits rests largely on memoirs and anecdotal reporting from former aides, campaign staff and chefs—sources who convey insider color but also have incentives to entertain or shape public views, and some of the most vivid claims (the jumbo McDonald’s order, the stocked plane) originated in Let Trump Be Trump and have been widely amplified by outlets like People and Eater, which cited those aides’ recollections [1] [2] [5]. These accounts align with the long‑running media portrayal of Trump as a fast‑food‑loving, snack‑laden figure, but they are not the same as systematic dietary records, and alternative portrayals — including statements that he ate better at home and passed a health check — complicate a simple caricature [3] [4].
7. Bottom line
Former employees painted a consistent shorthand: Trump is a fast‑food devotee who snacks heavily, travels with individually wrapped treats because of germ concerns, and insists on recreating familiar fast‑food items—an image reinforced by campaign memoirs and staff anecdotes but tempered by accounts that he sometimes eats more traditionally “good” meals at Mar‑a‑Lago or the White House and by public medical examinations cited in news coverage [1] [6] [3] [4].