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Michael Wolff
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Michael Wolff
I know when he got to the White House in 2017, there was a kind of major kerfuffle about this because A, he didn't like to eat in the, in the dining room. He liked to eat in his bedroom.
Michael
He liked to eat in his bedroom?
Host/Announcer
Yeah.
Michael Wolff
In the bed, I suppose. And so wait, wait a minute.
Michael
In the White House, he eats in his bedroom on his bed?
Michael Wolff
Yes. When he originally got there, it really sounded like he was, you know, like the feral child.
Michael
Michael.
Michael Wolff
Joanna.
Michael
So back again, back again. Here we are. I thought today we could focus on Trump's relationship with food.
Michael Wolff
Since it is Thanksgiving, that would be a good choice.
Michael
It's Thanksgiving and I imagine. Is he having turkey? What's going on inside his head? At Mar A Lago? Is this an unlimited all you can eat buffet? What is his Thanksgiving dinner?
Michael Wolff
Yes. First. Well, I don't know. So we're going to have to just imagine this. But I have a sneaking suspicion the Thanksgiving dinner will be a lunch spread. And it might be at the golf club. The golf Club is not Mar a Lago. The golf club is about 15 minutes away. But that's where the buffets happen. Trump loves a buffet. And the staff, the people, the Trump people point out, they love to point out. This is not like a, you know, hotel buffet, which have been really devalued over the years.
Michael
Right.
Michael Wolff
This is like the old fashioned buffet. Everything they say, the stations, they refer to the stations with some, some reverence.
Michael
So what are there? There's like hams, steaks.
Michael Wolff
There's the hams, the pork station, the beef station and the lobster station. So you can get your own individual lobster. I'm channeling the way people talk about this. I mean, they speak of this as a real kind of achievement to be able to go to the buffet at the golf club.
Michael
Well, and it speaks to a certain lavishness and luxury lifestyle that we thought of in the sort of 60s and.
Michael Wolff
70S when the buffet was before, the buffet just became a lot of steam trays.
Michael
Right.
Michael Wolff
They say that no steam trays.
Michael
They say that no steam tray. And what is the steam? The steam tray is the thing underneath it that keeps it warm.
Michael Wolff
Yeah. It's just that, you know, I mean, in most of these places, you know, your Marriott buffets across the country is just. Marriott. Marriott is not a sponsor, are they?
Michael
No, they're not. But we'd like you to be a sponsor Marriott. So if you're listening, if you're listening.
Michael Wolff
And if you were a sponsor, I wouldn't be saying this about your rock buffets.
Michael
Truthfully, he might. But actually we could do something positive about your buffets.
Michael Wolff
But anyway, it's a lot of overheated food. Not at the golf club.
Michael
Okay. So at the golf club, it's fresh.
Michael Wolff
Meat station made for you.
Michael
Okay. Oh, it's made for you right there. Okay. So you could have an omelette if you wanted.
Michael Wolff
Yeah, you could have anything.
Michael
Okay.
Michael Wolff
There's an omelet station under the sun.
Michael
Right.
Michael Wolff
You know how big the shrimps are?
Michael
They're the biggest in the world.
Michael Wolff
Big, big shrimps.
Michael
Big shrimps. Tell me about the food at Mar a Lago, because I know you've eaten there, you've eaten that with shrimp and Malarney, which I'm so envious about, me sitting between them. And then you never got your drink.
Michael Wolff
With my hand out, just trying to get that drink, which never, ever came. Although Trump said, you want a drink? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I need a drink. And then that's it. Do you want a drink? Yes, but no, it never came. But the Menu is steak and steak and steak and steak. You know, there's the.
Michael
And he likes the New York strip, doesn't he?
Michael Wolff
New York strip, yes. But there's the filet. There's the. The steak nibs. I don't even know what that is.
Michael
Steak nibs. Little bits of steak that have fallen off other bits of steak. What about a T bone?
Michael Wolff
All variety. I actually like a T bone. I don't remember that. If there was a T bone, I have the fillet.
Michael
And was it good?
Michael Wolff
You know?
Host/Announcer
No.
Michael
I mean, do they have great ingredients? Is it organic meat? Is it freshly flown in from.
Michael Wolff
It's just like. It's just like a menu from. You know, it's a 1965 menu.
Michael
Right.
Michael Wolff
And so what does that mean?
Michael
Prawn cocktail steak.
Michael Wolff
Yeah, yeah. Big shrimp. Big shrimp.
Michael
Black Forest gate. What's the dessert part?
Michael Wolff
Pies.
Michael
Pies. You know, I love the way you say that derisively. Pies. I love pies.
Michael Wolff
But there's a kind of like that coconut cream pie. They like them. They like them very high and very big, and then they make a big point. Look at that pie. Gonna eat all that. Ha ha. And I'm just. I'm trying to think. There were some other. Yeah, and there's a piece of grilled fish, but a lonely piece of grilled fish. You don't want the fish, do you?
Michael
Right.
Michael Wolff
I mean, you're a pansy if you take the fish. Even though you're by the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of America.
Michael
The Gulf of America. What does Melania eat? Can you remember what she ordered?
Michael Wolff
No, I can't, Michael.
Michael
Details, details.
Michael Wolff
I failed on that. But there was so much happening, you know? I mean, a lot happening that you're trying to focus on in addition to getting the drink.
Michael
So does Trump himself have disordered eating?
Michael Wolff
Well, yeah. I mean, I would say if orderly eating is somewhat of a broad palate, he certainly does. I mean, it's incredibly limited. I mean, it's basically limited to.
Michael
Beef. And does he have any vegetables? So he loves burgers and he loves steak.
Michael Wolff
Yeah. I've never heard a reported vegetable. But I know when he got to the White House in 2017, there was a kind of major kerfuffle about this because, A, he didn't like to eat in the. In the dining room. He liked to eat in his bedroom.
Michael
He liked to eat in his bedroom?
Host/Announcer
Yeah.
Michael Wolff
In the bed, I suppose. And so wait a minute.
Michael
In the White House, he eats in his bedroom on his bed?
Michael Wolff
Yes. Well, maybe he's gotten. I don't know. I'm not up to date on this. So perhaps he's been more socialized. I mean, he's had a lot of time now, but when he originally got there, it really sounded like he was, you know, like the feral child.
Michael
So. But also, maybe he was exhausted by the day or he was overwhelmed by people that he didn't know, and so he retreated.
Michael Wolff
Possibly a comfort burger. Yeah. And it was a. And it was always a burger. And then he wanted. Actually, his preference was to send out for the burger. And the White House, the Secret Service, then apparently, no, you gotta, you know, we cook our food here. But that was a tussle about that.
Michael
So serious question, given that we know of at least two attempts on his life, and then obviously there was the Iranian threat on him. Does he ever worry, does he have a food tester?
Michael Wolff
Well, his food tester is Mr. McDonald. That is one of the reasons. And this was, this is. I mean, this fact has been out there, but I want to claim credit for it. This was my scoop. I've had a lot of Trump food scoops, including scoops of his ice cream, which I've also had. But this scoop was that he likesone of the reasons that he likes McDonald's is that all his food is prepackaged and, and nobody's hands touch it. Therefore, it's much safer. The safer risk of him being poisoned or random germs. It is food untouched by human hands.
Michael
So is he actually a little nervous of eating the food in the White House because he thinks people might have poisoned it? Like Putin has a food tester?
Michael Wolff
No, I would say it's, it's really more about his palate.
Michael
Right.
Michael Wolff
The truth is, if you have a diet, a steady diet of fast food, which is high in salt and sugar, it's really. It becomes more difficult to eat good.
Michael
Food, healthy food, because you lose the taste for it.
Michael Wolff
Yeah, no, yeah, it doesn't.
Michael
So when you were reporting from the White House for your first book and you sat there for seven months, what was lunch like? Was stuff coming in from McDonald's. What was the sort of routine?
Michael Wolff
No, I mean, there's a cafeteria in the White House, which everybody uses. And then Trump, there's a, you know, there is a little dining room off of the, of the, of the Oval Office. And I mean, I never had lunch with him there, but I assume that, you know what, he got his hamburger there, which is the other interesting thing, is that often he would have two hamburgers a day, say a Hamburger for lunch and a hamburger for dinner.
Michael
And what about his team that's working around him? Are they eating healthier food? I mean, almost.
Michael Wolff
No, no. And there's a thing about that. I mean, there's an awareness that part of the job is.
Michael
Eating fast food.
Michael Wolff
Yeah, you're not going to get. I mean, it's kind of dicey. I mean, if you have any sense of what you should be eating, this is like a minefield that you're not. That you're not going to nap. You're going to get blown up.
Michael
Right. I mean, even RFK Jr. Who claims that he won't eat this stuff, was eating it on the plane at the beginning, along with Elon.
Michael Wolff
Yeah, no, I mean, it's. I mean, that is. That is the fast food is the menu. There is nothing else.
Michael
And what about his relationship with alcohol?
Michael Wolff
Well, I don't. I mean, he says he doesn't. I think he says he has never had a drink. And I think that that's. I mean, I don't know. He may have. He may have had. He may have had a drink, but he certainly doesn't. Doesn't drink. And as I say, I'm trying to get that glass of wine, Mar a Lago, and it never comes without any luck whatsoever.
Michael
And does Melania drink?
Michael Wolff
I don't know. Good question, though.
Michael
You could ask her.
Michael Wolff
I could.
Michael
You could definitely ask her.
Michael Wolff
We could serve a nice bottle of wine in deposition.
Michael
And what about Trump steak and Trump vodka? It's odd that he would do Trump vodka and not drink.
Michael Wolff
Well, I think if somebody is going to buy it, he's fine with that. And I think if the vodka is cheap enough and the markup is high enough.
Michael
Well, sadly, it's no longer available. And neither is Trump's steak.
Michael Wolff
Yeah, Trump whines, too, I think.
Michael
Yeah. Trump champagne. There was Trump champagne.
Michael Wolff
There was a lot of. Yeah, no, there was a lot of wine. I think that was, you know, terrible. Terrible. Just ghastly.
Michael
And sadly, no longer available went the way of Trump University. Trump water.
Michael Wolff
We replaced it with Trump Country.
Michael
How is it that Morgan Spurlock, who did that documentary Super Size Me about eating burgers every day, died very young? And Donald Trump, who seems to exist on a junk food diet that all doctors would say, this is terrible for you, seems to have defied all logic?
Michael Wolff
Well, you know, I mean, this is random. In other words, he has not maximized his chances for longevity as you do. We do. With no guarantee, by the way, that we will realize that longevity.
Michael
Well, he may Outlive all of us.
Michael Wolff
Yes. And he is one of those people of whom there are many who. Who defy the odds because, you know, the odds are actually pretty.
Michael
What are they? Odd.
Michael Wolff
Oh, they're probably already written. It's already written.
Michael
Okay. It's already written. Interesting that you think that.
Michael Wolff
Well, it's written in your DNA. That's what it's going to be. And his DNA is apparently keeping him alive despite McDonald's.
Michael
Okay, so he likes McDonald's. He likes pizza.
Michael Wolff
Yeah. So during the trial, I was particularly fascinated by this. So the trial in New York, Stormy Daniels, which lasted six weeks, and he had to be in court four days a week. And so the court started it, I think, 9:30 in the morning. And then there was the lunch break. And the lunch break took place in. For him and his legal team that took place in one of the break rooms. These break rooms. Really, really dismal and kind of a long room. A table. And then at the end of the room, which was just two feet from the table. Table itself, there was the bathroom. The awkward bathroom.
Michael
Right. This was the bathroom that he didn't like other people using.
Michael Wolff
No, no, the one guy who did somehow ridiculously use it then he was. He was expelled from the team anyway. Kenneth. But. So they had a fixed menu for. For four days. So the four days a week were pizza, McDonald's, chick fil a and Jimmy John's.
Michael
What is Jimmy John's?
Michael Wolff
It's actually a big national chain and one of his favorites, McDonald's is his favorite, but he likes Jimmy John's. And they're around the country. There are not too many in Manhattan.
Michael
And is this true that McDonald's is actually his favorite, or is this one small performance and actually the reason he's managed to live as long as he has on such a terrible diet is because he's really eating, you know, salmon and salad in his bedroom.
Michael Wolff
No, no, this is.
Michael
This is really true.
Michael Wolff
This is genuine. Yes, I mean, it really is. He is a McDonald's devotee.
Michael
Okay. And of course, he had that brilliant moment during his campaign where he suddenly leaned out of a drive through and it was, surprise, Donald Trump is serving you your McDonald's. It was such a good moment with this.
Michael Wolff
Yeah. No, no, no. And it is. And maybe that is, you know, most of the country eats McDonald's, and McDonald's is delicious. Just not every day. Do you think so? You want to know something?
Michael
I haven't had one for 40 years, but last time I had it, it was great.
Michael Wolff
I'M going to tell you something which will. Which will exclude.
Michael
I know what you're looking at.
Michael Wolff
Exclude me from a political career. I've never ever in my life eaten at a McDonald's.
Michael
Have you had a McDonald's at a drive through?
Michael Wolff
No, never. I've never eaten. I've never had there a McDonald's food. So McDonald's which has.
Michael
Is that because you used to live on the Upper east side and now you live in the Hamptons and there are no McDonald's in the Hamptons?
Michael Wolff
Well, yeah, but I grew up in New Jersey.
Michael
Oh, fair.
Michael Wolff
And I remember, I go back. So there was on the highway in New Jersey, Route 46, I believe in New Jersey, it's the entirety. At least 60% of all conversations are about highways. Route 46. You take 46? No, no. You did 208. What about 17 are the other parts.
Michael
Of the conversation about the people who've come from there? Because it was William Carlos Williams. Who are the other people that came from?
Michael Wolff
Allen Ginsberg. But it's not. No, not too much. Mostly highways. But there was a McDonald's Route 46, I believe. That said over 5 million Big Macs sold. 5 million. What are we now at? 5 trillion.
Michael
Right.
Michael Wolff
So my whole life has been the story of the expansion of McDonald's, but I've never had one.
Michael
Okay, that's weird that you've never had one. I'm going to bring you one in and make you eat it. Live on you, too.
Michael Wolff
But. And I actually told Trump that I Never had a McDonald's.
Michael
What did he say?
Michael Wolff
Ignored.
Michael
Ignored. He doesn't care about you.
Michael Wolff
Yes, right.
Michael
I hate to break it to you. He doesn't care about you. It's all about him. Okay, so he loves McDonald's. He loves pizza. He loves Jimmy John's. He also likes sweets.
Michael Wolff
Not just sweets, candy.
Michael
Okay. I'm saying sweets in the English sense of the word. So. Meaning. I mean those things that you have in your pockets and you have people having bowls here.
Michael Wolff
Yeah. No, and it says. He says, he sits at his desk and he says, bring me the poison.
Michael
This was a scoop of yours?
Michael Wolff
Yes. And then he comes in, then the people rush in in a big bowl and it starbursts Hershey's Miniatures. I'm not even sure what that is.
Michael
Those little tiny bars.
Michael Wolff
Laffy Taffy, Milky Ways and Tootsie Rolls.
Michael
Have you had any of those?
Michael Wolff
I have not.
Michael
You've never had a Tootsie Roll?
Michael Wolff
Oh, when I was a child, yes. Not since.
Michael
Well, that's what's interesting. These are childish sweets, right? These are childish candies.
Michael Wolff
Yeah.
Host/Announcer
Candy.
Michael
He's the President of the United States.
Michael Wolff
Candy is for children. I mean, just think about his Halloween.
Michael
Oh, I don't want to think about it.
Host/Announcer
Yeah.
Michael
He seems to have nice clean tea. Well, obviously, because they're within an inch of their life.
Michael Wolff
Yeah. But no, I mean, how do you eat? I can't. Could you eat a candy now? Well, I.
Michael
Well, I can eat lilac chocolate candies, which are a delicious place in the village, which just do heavenly chocolate. But.
Michael Wolff
But a Milky Way. Could you take a big. A big tear out of a Milky Way?
Michael
Well, we have Milky Ways in our snack room. Actually, I lie. We have Snickers. And I like to get them and cut them up into tiny little pieces and then I eat them slowly over the period of a week. But does he have the coconut pie at Mar a Lago? Does he eat those kind of desserts?
Michael Wolff
You know, I was waiting. I remember this because I was kind of focused on this to see if he would eat the dessert. And I saw the pie in front of him, but I didn't see him take a bite of it. Now this could also be because he's talking the whole time. Remember, everybody's kind of coming up to him. It's like he's at the wedding table and he's going, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I mean, amazing non stop. So I don't know how he could really eat.
Michael
So does he eat breakfast that.
Michael Wolff
I don't know. Never, Never, never had a breakfast with Donald Trump.
Michael
Because I've read that he doesn't eat breakfast and that he powers through with Diet Coke and coffee until sort of mid afternoon.
Michael Wolff
No, the amount of Diet Coke is. Is you would think that alone would have. Would have fell in.
Michael
Wasn't that one of your stories?
Michael Wolff
Bingo. Yes.
Michael
Like the Diet Coke button under the desk.
Michael Wolff
Yes. What is that on the desk? Diet Coke. And they rush it in.
Michael
Is that true? I always assume that was made up.
Michael Wolff
No, no, no, no.
Michael
So he literally has a button.
Michael Wolff
Yeah. And he pushes it and he's always pushing it.
Michael
I've never seen it on his desk. Can you see it on his desk?
Michael Wolff
Well, I actually don't know. Is it on the Resolute desk? It was in Mar a Lago.
Michael
Oh, okay.
Michael Wolff
But it may be. I think it is on the Resolute desk.
Michael
Right?
Michael Wolff
Yeah.
Michael
And then someone, some poor flack comes in with a. And does he like ice or not ice?
Michael Wolff
Not ice, as I recall.
Michael
Okay.
Michael Wolff
I'm going to straight up. You know he likes hot dogs too. The golf course is the hot dog. When he's out on the golf course, hot dogs. Two.
Michael
He has two hot dogs. And does he have mustard or cashews?
Michael Wolff
I mean Steve Bannon once described he says it goes in all at once and a toss to our sponsors.
Michael
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Michael
Conditions apply.
Michael Wolff
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Michael Wolff
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Michael
And Michael Wolff and I are back inside Trump's head.
Michael Wolff
Also the staff, by the way, when you're out on the plane, you know, you do. You go wherever you're going and then you get back on the plane and then there's always a, you know, a fast food box on your seat when you get back. Yeah. This is looked at as kind of like a little, a little perk of.
Michael
The job, a little treat that you get. Chicken fingers or something.
Michael Wolff
Yes, exactly.
Michael
Right. All right, so I've got, I pulled up some state dinner menus and I want you to decide if you would like it or not like it. So this is that, this is a dinner that they had in Trump 1, 2018. And this is for Emmanuel Macron. And the first course. And I love reading these because food gives people the opportunity for such pretension. Okay. This was goat cheese gato, tomato jam, buttermilk biscuit crumbles, young variegated lettuces. Would he have eaten any of that?
Michael Wolff
None of that.
Michael
Main course rack of spring lamb.
Michael Wolff
I've asked about this, I've inquired exactly this.
Michael
And he doesn't eat any of this.
Michael Wolff
He has a burger before.
Michael
They say he has a burger before. Right. So he just pokes it. Pokes at it. All right.
Michael Wolff
And remember, he's talking the whole time.
Michael
Of course.
Michael Wolff
Course.
Michael
Right. So he had. So for macaron, they entertained a main course rack of spring lamb, burnt cipollini, sous Carolina golden rice, jambalaya with celery, peppers, onions, herbs from the south lawn. That just feels like it would be too much for him. So he's eaten his burger and he can just then just talk. And Paul Macron is probably trying to figure out how to talk back and eat a little bit.
Michael Wolff
Yeah. You know, a sort of untold story is that actually the food in the White House is terrible.
Michael
Is it?
Michael Wolff
Oh, yeah. It's like, you know, it's like made up food. It's, you know, I mean, it's, it's. I mean, it's banquet food.
Michael
It's banquet.
Michael Wolff
You know, it's like going to a.
Michael
Wedding, which is significant in terms of the poor east wing still laying as a pile of rubble. Because presumably it'll be banquet food when they get that up and running as a ballroom, won't it?
Michael Wolff
Oh, of course, yeah. I mean, it's always, I mean, you know, it's American banquet food.
Michael
American banquet food. All right, so here's the dinner they had in honor of Scott Morrison in 2019, who was then, I think, prime minister of Australia. Start a sunchoke ravioli under a lemon parmigiano. Reggiano sauce main course.
Michael Wolff
Now that sounds like that would be. That's literally something that nobody is going to eat.
Michael
Nobody's going to eat. And also the main course is dover sole with fennel, mussolin, and a rich hollandaise. So there's a lot of sauces going on. You go from cheese sauce to a rich hollandaise made with whipped cream. And also.
Michael Wolff
Also Dover sole. Let's get.
Michael
You don't want mass produced.
Michael Wolff
Yeah. Dover sole, you got to do on the bone, and then you got to fillet it. Obviously, they didn't do that. And it's obviously not Dover Sol.
Michael
Oh, interesting.
Michael Wolff
Some cheap.
Michael
Right? Okay. And then Dover solver soul. Right, my ass. Okay. All right. So. So what is he eating? You think he's having steak for Thanksgiving? Oh, actually, you know what I found? I found there? I just want to do one more.
Michael Wolff
I think he's having a hamburger for Thanksgiving.
Michael
He's eating the hamburger because that's what he wants. Okay. So I wonder if he ate a hamburger before the famous dinner at Windsor Castle, when, of course, that very clever guerrilla team put on your face on the side of Windsor Castle and Jeffrey Epstein's face. I can't believe we got through an episode. I think we got through our last Tuesday's episode without mentioning the word Epstein once. Maybe that's not true. Anyway, what a loss. What a loss. But here's what the king served up, because it's always useful to know these things if you. If you're not invited to state dinners. This is what they're eating.
Michael Wolff
The Jeffrey Epstein food, just. We could digress. Was also terrible. There was a lot of it. And you always were offered anything you wanted.
Michael
Didn't Soon Yi Previn have to teach him how to cater?
Michael Wolff
Yeah, I think that there was a story about that. Yes. But it was, you know, I mean, he had a lot of the cooks, and I mean, in my experience, all private chefs are terrible. And the reason they're private chefs is that they can't get a job in a restaurant.
Michael
But I never thought of that.
Michael Wolff
But the food. No, the Epstein food was terrible. And Epstein was not interested in food. Epstein and Trump were, you know, very much the same. Both. They didn't drink. They both.
Michael
Neither of them drank.
Michael Wolff
Yeah, they both would have preferred to revert to a hamburger no matter what was. What else might be available. All conversations took place around Jeffrey Epstein's Dining room table. A dining room table which I would say comfortably would seat, I don't know, you know, 30. I mean, a very long, baronial style table table. And then presumably there are not 30 people there. So everybody was sort of congregated down at the end. And as soon as you arrived and. And people arrive from breakfast through till dinner, and when they come in, Jeffrey Epstein would say, what do you want? Because there was a chef always ready to respond. And that. I've seen this many times, it would kind of keep. Catch people off guard. What do you want? I mean, then he would say, you want a quiche, you want an omelet, you want a. You want smoked salmon, you want. And then he would list off a long list or anything. What do you want? And then faced with this, somebody would say, make the mistake of picking one. I mean, you just didn't, you know. And unfortunately, that meant everyone was. There were always six, seven, eight more people there. And then suddenly you would be presented with a plate of food no one else would be eating.
Michael
Oh, no. So you're the sole eater.
Michael Wolff
Exactly. So, I mean, there might be another lonely eater, but there were a number of people who would be there who would know, don't take the food, because there's no. It's not as if lunch is being served. It's this constant movable feast with you the only one having the feast, which was awkward. So you have to talk and then suddenly your mouth is full.
Michael
No, no, that's terrible. You've got to eat with everybody else, otherwise it's a disaster. And I remember in your book Too Famous, there's a chapter on Epstein where you talk about Erhad Barak, the Israeli prime or former Israeli Prime Minister, arriving and demanding an egg with some caviar.
Michael Wolff
Yeah. Yes. Well, he turns down the omelet and he says, I've had too many. Your hospitality is measured in omelets.
Michael
What does he mean by that?
Michael Wolff
I'm going to pass on the omelette, as always. You know, you want an omelet, it's like this kind of thing. But then he said, but I would have some of that caviar. And then there was a whole thing about the caviar, and Epstein didn't like the caviar, and we only keep it for you, et cetera.
Michael
Okay, well, when Donald Trump was in Windsor Castle, here's what they had with the king for his most recent visit. The starter was Hampshire watercress panna cotta with parmesan shortbread and quail egg salad. Would he have eaten any of that?
Michael Wolff
No, not a lick.
Michael
Okay. Main course, organic Norfolk chicken ballotine wrapped in courgettes. Zucchini to you, served with a thyme and savory infused juice.
Michael Wolff
Who writes this stuff? There must be a menu writer. A universal banquet menu writer.
Michael
Well, I think this is what Andrew, formerly known as Prince Andrew, will now be eating that now he's been banished to Norfolk. This is the kind of thing he'll be eating when he tips into the kitchen at Sandringham. I don't think he's allowed into the main rooms at Sandringham, but he can stay in the below stairs. Dessert, vanilla ice cream bomb with a Kentish raspberry sorbet interior and lightly poached Victoria plums.
Michael Wolff
Oh, well, let's talk about the ice cream, because ice cream is a very important component of the Trump diet.
Michael
Go on.
Michael Wolff
So when I first. So in 2016, before when. Still that moment when one would regard a Trump presidency as ridiculous at best, but preposterous even. I interviewed Trump at his house in Beverly Hills and went into the house and he greeted me, and then he took me into the kitchen. He said, are you hungry?
Michael
Had you had dinner beforehand or anything? I mean, did you. You didn't interview him over dinner, you interviewed him at his house?
Michael Wolff
Yes. And it was after dinner. He had gone to a fundraiser. Where is. At Tom Barrack's house.
Michael
Tom Barrack, now one of his ambassadors.
Michael Wolff
Yes. And a key advisor and friend and really a mainstay of Trump's political career. A person, a very mysterious person who we should come back to. But. And then he came back after that fundraiser and he had actually said he hadn't eaten. I was at the fundraiser. Blythe. I didn't eat. I'm hungry. Do you want anything? I said, no. But he opened the refrigerator and it was just filled with pints of vanilla Haagen Dazs ice cream.
Michael
Like a library of just solely vanilla.
Michael Wolff
There was nothing else in the refrigerator but this probably.
Michael
Were there other refrigerators? Were you in the kitchen?
Michael Wolff
I was in the kitchen. I don't know if there were. I think it was a large refrigerator. I would say, I don't know. How many pints? 30. I don't know. But he took one out. I'm trying to think. He took it. So I said, do you want anything? No. He took it. Not listening to that. Threw it to me. I caught it. And then he took one for himself. And then opened the drawer to get a spoon. Then I had to get my own spoon. I didn't want the ice cream, but I had the. What was I going to do with it? And then we went out into the, into the living room and he took in the kitchen. He took the top off the sort of plastic wrapper. Yes, he took it off and so he's eating out of that and I did not take the top off. So I took it off there and put it on the thing. And then he said don't put that there. Anyway, this is.
Michael
And did he eat the whole thing?
Michael Wolff
Every last bit of it.
Michael
That's a lot of sugar and a lot of cream.
Michael Wolff
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Michael
And Michael and I are back on.
Michael Wolff
The campaign trail that became. People would tell me he had shifted. He went to strawberry vanilla, and it had to be that. And he always needed two quarts of it. Two quarts. That's a lot, right? So that's two tubs in the mini fridge.
Michael
What's the mini fridge?
Michael Wolff
You know, in the hotel, you know, so when they were on the Rose.
Michael
Insisted on going back and sleeping in his own bedroom.
Michael Wolff
He did. But when he had to. When they had to stay overnight, he had to have those two quarts of the strawberry vanilla.
Michael
Okay, so he basically eats McDonald's or burgers and vanilla ice cream and nothing else. Yeah.
Michael Wolff
And the diet Coke. Yeah.
Michael
Right. I wish we had more details of what Melania eats.
Michael Wolff
Yeah, can't help you with that one.
Michael
Well, maybe you can ask.
Michael Wolff
Yes.
Michael
Oh, ask Melania what is your diet.
Michael Wolff
Even where we can serve her in the deposition.
Michael
Yes, you can.
Michael Wolff
And we'll see what she takes.
Michael
Okay, that'll be interesting. That'll be very interesting. All right. Well, Michael, we have Thanksgiving meals to get to. You have one to cook?
Michael Wolff
I do.
Michael
You have one to cook? I have one to unbox because mine's being catered and delivered to me, which I'm excited about.
Michael Wolff
Jimmy John's, perhaps.
Michael
Who knows? I don't know where it's coming from. It's the first time I've ever let this happen, and I'm very excited. I will say I am excited to have someone else cook.
Michael Wolff
Sounds strange. This is the first time you've done this. You've cooked Thanksgiving dinner your whole life, and then suddenly, suddenly you have a dinner arriving from you don't know where, and you're happy about it.
Michael
I'm very happy about it. And I will tell you, I'm going to push back on the one thing about private chefs, because at the risk of sounding super bougie, at deep times of stress in my life, I have had a private chef, and it is transformative because you don't have to think about food. And the exhausting.
Michael Wolff
I don't think you like food. Here's my.
Michael
I love.
Michael Wolff
I don't think so.
Michael
Like food.
Michael Wolff
No. First thing, you're a Brit, so, you know, that's a whole different standard in food and a whole level of blandness that you can tolerate. Secondly, the truth is, most people, you know, don't like food, don't care about food. You know, it's. They can have, you know, You've been going to restaurants so long, it all blends together.
Michael
Well, that's true. That's true. And I will say I find it very stressful looking at a menu, and I'm conscious this is a very privileged conversation. I'm just saying I am defending private chefs because on the occasions when I've had private chefs for periods of my life, I found it such a relief. Because not to have to think about what you're feeding children is a huge relief.
Michael Wolff
Yeah, well, yeah, but that you, you've just, you've just defined. Well, you've just defined what it is to have a spouse. For one thing, if I were your spouse, for instance, I would be cooking for you.
Michael
I've never had a spouse that cooks for me.
Michael Wolff
Well, but those are different questions. Someone who takes the responsibility and the worry of food from you.
Michael
Right.
Michael Wolff
That's different from what is good food.
Michael
True. Well, there are a lot of people watching now who I'm sure are feeling deeply stressed about having to cook their Thanksgiving for however many people. But maybe we'd all be happier with a burger.
Michael Wolff
Well, I, you know, and I don't know why, because actually Thanksgiving is a very easy meal to cook.
Michael
I agree with you on that. I agree with you and the English way to cook. My way of cooking, should anyone care, is just gas. Mark 5 threw everything in the oven and eventually it comes out and it's done.
Michael Wolff
Apart from the potatoes, I rest my case.
Michael
Apart from the potatoes, which need to be cooked at a much higher heat. Anyway, it's the one thing I'll miss cooking this year. I still would give it all up to go to Mar a Lago for Thanksgiving. We have to smuggle ourselves in.
Michael Wolff
Well, no, you should go before this life ends. To Mar a Lago. I mean, that really is something worth seeing.
Michael
Yeah. I'm sorry.
Michael Wolff
I mean, you can't really describe it.
Michael
Okay.
Michael Wolff
Well, from a whole other age. I mean, it's not as if you get there and say, mar a Lago. What? What?
Michael
I've driven around the outside of it.
Michael Wolff
Well, it's quite the other thing, quite.
Michael
The opposite, because it's surprisingly small when you see it in real life.
Michael Wolff
Well, it's small, but it's also kind of tacky in some old fashioned way. You know, they have these big kind of posters. They have posters up, you know, join us for Hawaiian luau night, Italian night.
Michael
Right.
Michael Wolff
So it's like an old fashioned country club.
Michael
It sounds like a kind of old upstate Catskill.
Michael Wolff
Well, and then he's kind of like the Catskills tumbler. You know, he greets everybody. I hope you had a great meal.
Michael
So he's the ringmaster. He's the mc.
Michael Wolff
Yeah. The mother and daughter. I mean, I've heard him do this literally, I think a half a dozen times in the several hours that I was with him. The mother, daughter. And then he says, so your sisters. You know, it's a told one. Oh, my God.
Michael
Someone gave me a good line about Palm beach the other day. They said people think they move to Palm beach because they're old and they're rich, and then they get down there and they realize they are neither.
Michael Wolff
Yeah. No. God.
Michael
Okay, okay. All right. Happy Thanksgiving.
Michael Wolff
I will see you next Tuesday very soon, but have a good holiday.
Michael
Thank you. And if you have been. Thank you for joining us. Don't forget to leave a comment. You can subscribe, leave your Thanksgiving menu. You can leave your thoughts on food. Are you a foodie? Are you not a foodie? Would you have eaten the meal at the state dinner at Windsor Castle? And would you recommend that Donald Trump has a food taster, a food tester, in fact? Do you want to say thank you to our people? And let's thank our beast tier of members who get extra content from us and you get your name shouted out. And we would like more of you. Here you go. Leave us a comment on YouTube and feel free to subscribe to the Daily Beast podcast wherever you get your podcast, because we're independent media and we love your support. We appreciate your support.
Michael Wolff
I'm not sure that we've dwelled enough on the fast food quality of this president in the time we live in.
Michael
Well, go on.
Michael Wolff
Is this, I mean, it's a fast food country. Is this his, you know, part of his, you know, everybody says, what is the connection, Trump? How did this happen?
Michael
Is this his superpower?
Michael Wolff
Yeah, I mean, it's just one part of the thing, one part of the way he channels the nation.
Michael
And do you remember Barack Obama saying he had the same lunch every day because it meant fewer decisions and that his snack in the evening was eight almonds?
Michael Wolff
Yes. No, I'm sure Barack Obama has had. I mean, every time he has had a fast food meal, he has felt enormous guilt about it. Donald Trump has never felt guilt about a burger. That's heavy.
Michael
Okay, it's time. It's time to say goodbye.
Michael Wolff
Herbie Andrew Melor Fulvia Orlando Las Conde, Sandra Clark M. Griner. Bonzo Val love. Francisco Babcock, D.C. karen White.
Michael
It's Bocock. D.C. poor Bobcock has written in to point out how we should pronounce their name.
Michael Wolff
Bocock D.C. heidi Riley, Connie Rutherford, Sharon Shipley, Andrea Hodel.
Michael
And thank you of course, to our production team, Devon Rogerino, Anna Von Erson and Jessie Millwood.
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Michael Wolff
Want more great listens? Check out our comedy podcast the Last Laugh and our Star Studded the Daily.
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The Daily Beast Podcast
Host: Joanna Coles (with guest Michael Wolff)
Date: November 28, 2025
This lively and irreverent episode of The Daily Beast Podcast dives into Donald Trump’s eating habits, spanning his time in the White House, at Mar-a-Lago, and on the campaign trail. Journalist and returning guest Michael Wolff brings an insider’s view, sharing stories and food "scoops" that paint a vivid portrait of Trump as a man whose tastes, anxieties, and rituals around food are both eccentric and unexpectedly revealing. The dialogue is peppered with wry humor and candid observations, moving beyond mere trivia to consider how fast food shapes the image and psychology of the former president.
If you want to understand the quirks and symbolism of Donald Trump’s public and private face, look no further than his tray of cheeseburgers—or the Diet Coke button at his elbow. This episode offers an insightful, often funny look at food as psychology, power, risk, and performance in Trumpland. The revelations aren’t just about “disgusting bedroom habits”—they’re about how what’s on the plate can mirror what’s in the mind.