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.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Climate change is threatening Florida's Key deerThe Explainer Questions remain as to how much effort should be put into saving the animals
-
Daniel Lurie: San Francisco's moderate next mayorIn the Spotlight Lurie beat a fellow Democrat, incumbent Mayor London Breed, for the job
-
TV to watch in November, from 'Dune: Prophecy' and 'A Man on the Inside'The Week Recommends A new comedy from 'The Good Place' creator, a prequel to 'Dune' and the conclusion of one of America's most popular shows
-
Boeing machinists approve contract, end strikeSpeed Read The company's largest union approved the new contract offer, ending a seven-week strike
-
US economy still strong in final preelection reportSpeed Read It grew at a solid 2.8% annual rate from July through September
-
Boeing machinists reject deal, continue strikeSpeed Read The rejection came the same day Boeing reported a $6.2 billion quarterly loss
-
Ports reopen after dockworkers halt strikeSpeed Read The 36 ports that closed this week, from Maine to Texas, will start reopening today
-
Empty-nest boomers aren't selling their big homesSpeed Read Most Americans 60 and older do not intend to move, according to a recent survey
-
Brazil accuses Musk of 'disinformation campaign'Speed Read A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has opened an inquiry into Elon Musk and X
-
Disney board fends off Peltz infiltration bidSpeed Read Disney CEO Bob Iger has defeated activist investor Nelson Peltz in a contentious proxy battle
-
Disney and DeSantis reach detenteSpeed Read The Florida governor and Disney settle a yearslong litigation over control of the tourism district
