Obama and Trump trade barbs over White House décor and Cheesecake Factory joke
publishers 37articles 48first reported 25 Oct, 00:05 UTCdeveloping since 25 Oct · 7 editions
Former President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump traded insults over renovations to the White House as both campaigned ahead of next week’s congressional elections.
Obama began the exchange during a Democratic campaign appearance in Ohio, joking that Trump had made the White House look “like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory” because of its extensive gold décor. Trump defended the work, saying the building had been in poor condition and was restored by “the finest artisans.” He called Obama a “lousy president” and “a stupid person” and accused him of failing to notice “dirt and filth.”
The White House then embraced the restaurant reference, posting an AI-generated Cheesecake Factory-style menu that listed Trump administration policies as dishes. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ate at one of the chain’s restaurants and told reporters he had enjoyed the meal. Fox Business reported that Bessent also compared Obama’s presidential library to “Darth Vader’s tomb.”
At a Wednesday campaign appearance in Georgia, Obama mocked the administration’s response, noting that the Treasury secretary had been sent to speak outside a Cheesecake Factory. Obama said Bessent should instead be focused on making Americans’ lives more affordable.
Obama was campaigning for Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, while Trump has been urging voters to support Republican candidates. All 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are being contested in Tuesday’s elections.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 5 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 108 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
- Publishers
- 37
- Source articles
- 48
- Given to the writer
- 8, 5 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8
- This version written
- 108 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- kept as written
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and published it as written.
Written by a language model from the sources above, then checked by a second model that may only cut, attribute or correct. How it works →