President Trump hosted Clemson University's champion football team on Monday night, and he served them pizza and burgers, along with fries and some salads. "The president wanted to host a fun event to celebrate the College Football National Champion Clemson Tigers," Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley told CNN, noting that because of the partial government shutdown, "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."
Trump himself made the same point. "Because of the shutdown, you know we have the great Clemson team with us, the national champions," he told reporters. "So we went out and we ordered American fast food, paid for by me." Along with furloughs, a snowstorm has also kept away much of the White House residential staff, who would normally cater such events. You can get a look at the spread in the video below.
In welcoming the Tigers, Trump also made a joke about not forcing the football players to eat salads made by first lady Melania Trump and second lady Karen Pence, and you can watch that go down like a lead balloon with CNN's Erin Burnett below. Peter Weber
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