U.S. President Donald Trump laid out a White House feast fit for a government shutdown on Monday: silver platters heaped high with McDonald’s quarter pounders and the red-and-white burger wrappers of Wendy’s.
White House chefs normally would serve much fancier fare underneath the stern gaze of the portrait of Abraham Lincoln in the State Dining Room. But they are furloughed, staying home without paychecks as Trump fights with Congress over funding the federal government.
READ MORE: U.S. air traffic controllers aren’t getting paid — their Canadian colleagues sent pizza
The White House said Trump himself sprang for what he pronounced to be “great American food” for the visiting Clemson Tigers, winners of the U.S. college football championship.
WATCH: Trump says he sent out for fast food for Clemson Tigers due to shutdown
“We have pizzas, we have 300 hamburgers, many, many french fries, all of our favourite foods,” Trump told reporters, as one White House worker still on the job lit tapered candles.
“I want to see what’s here when we leave, because I don’t think it’s going to be much,” Trump said, before the players, dressed in dapper suits, flooded the room and piled their plates high.
Get breaking National news
WATCH: Critics contend Trump didn’t know words to National Anthem after appearance at college football game (Jan. 9, 2018)
About a quarter of the federal government has been shut down for the past 24 days after Trump dug in on a campaign pledge to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico, demanding $5.7 billion from Congress for the project. Democrats have rejected his demand.
Trump told the players afterward that he did not want to postpone the event until after the shutdown – which is already the longest in history – ended.
Comments