Obama likens the gilded White House to a Cheesecake Factory; Trump, the White House and the chain's ex-designer answer
A campaign-trail jab turned a restaurant chain's famously ornate dining rooms into a political argument; the report has every side's words.
At a rally in Cleveland on Saturday, ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms, former President Barack Obama said President Donald Trump had the White House "looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory" because of all the gold, The National News Desk reports.
Trump answered on Monday at Joint Base Andrews: "For you to say it's a Cheesecake Factory — that just shows why you were a lousy president," adding that walls "hadn't been cleaned for years." The White House's X account posted a mock menu poking fun at the chain's roughly 20-page, 250-item menu, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ate lunch at the Washington, D.C., restaurant and criticized Obama.
Rick McCormack, the Cheesecake Factory's former vice president of design, told CNN he found the comparison "a little bit sad" and called it "the pettiness of politics." The report notes that since returning to office Trump has torn down the East Wing for a ballroom, paved over the Rose Garden and added gold-leaf fixtures to the Oval Office.
Across the spectrum 3
Democrat
Barack Obama, former Democratic president: At an Oct. 24 rally in Cleveland, Obama said Trump had the White House "looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory" because of all the gold, as reported by The National News Desk.
WJLA ↗Libertarian
In a Sept. 2, 2026 column on the ballroom built where the East Wing stood, Sullum writes that Trump demolished the East Wing "without permission from Congress," that the project "is probably illegal," and that his "insistence on acting unilaterally will make his vanity project a monument to his disregard for the rule of law and the separation of powers."
Reason ↗Republican
Donald Trump, Republican president: Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews: "For you to say it's a Cheesecake Factory — that just shows why you were a lousy president," and said the walls "hadn't been cleaned for years."
WJLA ↗-
The Cheesecake Factory
After exploring Cheesecake Factory's longtime designer calls Obama White House jab 'pettiness of politics', for the company behind the décor, read The Cheesecake Factory.
Wikipedia profiles the American restaurant chain and cheesecake distributor, which operates about 370 full-service restaurants under its own and other brands.
Wikipedia · Wade · 5 min
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