By SARAH EWALL-WICE, SENIOR U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM IN WASHINGTON, DC
A former White House chef is dishing on how he tried to get Donald Trump, known for his love of junk food, to be more healthy during his first term.
Chef Andre Rush, who worked in the White House during four administrations serving up meals for President Bill Clinton through the president-elect's first term, spoke with Politico about the incoming president's diet and how it may have been healthier in the White House than some may have thought.
78-year-old Trump has famously been photographed chowing down on a range of fast foods from McDonald's to Kentucky Fried Chicken over the years.
But according to Rush, he used to try to 'manipulate' Trump's meals to make them healthier during his first term by substituting similar items.
Rush noted that with the president-elect's advanced age, he would encourage more healthy eating the second time round.
'I would try to incorporate as many healthy food items as I possibly could,' Rush told Politico. 'Especially because he's known for not drinking water.'
'He's always been on his soda trip. That's all he drinks, 24/7. He's been living off it and says, "It hasn't hurt me yet." But that's a cliche we all go through until it hurts you,' he added.
Trump was famously known for having a 'Diet Coke button' at the White House, so an aide could bring him his beverage of choice whenever he wanted one.
The chef shared how he would include flavoring such as lemon or orange to Trump's water to try and get him to drink more of it.
Rush spilling the tea on Trump comes as the president-elect has vowed in his second term to 'Make America Healthy Again' but famously trolled Kamala Harris with a stunt at a McDonald's on the campaign trail.
Since the election, he has nominated Robert Kennedy Jr. to be the secretary of health and human services.
But the pair raised eyebrows when they were pictured chowing down on McDonald's together as they prepare for his second term last month.
Trump with Don Jr., Elon Musk, and HHS secretary nominee Robert Kennedy Jr. eating McDonald's last month in a picture shared by his son on social media
Trump posing with a table full of fast food in the State Dining Room of the White House in January 2019 ahead of a reception with the Clemson Tigers
Trump posing with KFC in a picture he posted on Twitter before he was elected president the first time
Rush shared that while working in the White House, he would also attempt to make Trump's burgers healthier for him.
'Instead of doing full grounds, I'll go half and half with turkey and put a little bit more [flavor] profiles inside of it,' Rush told Politico.
Chef Andre Rush cooked for Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump in the White House
'If he wants bacon on it, instead of pork, I'd use beef bacon, which is more crispy and more healthy,' he explained.
Other substitutions he made were to swap in sweet potato fries or make battered fries out of other vegetables rather than the potato french fries Trump is known to adore.
Rush did note, Clinton ate just as many burgers as Trump did.
He said the 78-year-old Republican did 'try to eat healthy' but people did not see that part.
'They just see the part that we want to show on social media,' he noted of Trump.
'A lot of things he doesn't eat is because he's not used to it,' Rush said of the president-elect.
He encouraged future White House chefs cooking for Trump to get to know him better, so they can understand why he eats what he eats which will be a good way to engage him more.
Rush said Trump was the hardest of the presidents he cooked for because 'there was not a lot of diversity to it.'
The easiest president he cooked for was President Obama because the family had a White House garden, and he 'wanted to get everything from the garden.'