Trump Defends White House Renovations After Obama's 'Cheesecake Factory' Critique
Updated 00:33 27 Oct 2026 GMTPublished 23:05 26 Oct 2026 GMT
Trump insisted: ‘That just shows why you were a lousy president’
US President Donald Trump fired back at former President Barack Obama’s ‘Cheesecake Factory’ jibe.
Over the weekend Obama slammed Trump’s recent renovations of the White House, comparing it to a branch of The Cheesecake Factory ‘opened by Saddam Hussein’, suggesting the changes were over the top and tasteless, reports the New York Post.
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.”
He continued, “We have to explain that to Obama because he doesn’t understand it because he’s not a smart guy.
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Obama started the most recent war of words on Saturday (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
“He’s not smart at all because of the way he ran the country. Only a stupid person would run the country like that.”
Trump then took aim at Obama’s record of looking after the White House.
“He doesn’t notice dirt and filth that hadn’t been cleaned, where the walls hadn’t been cleaned for years. He doesn’t notice areas that haven’t been painted,” Trump said.
“Guys like Obama don’t see it. You don’t see dirt. He doesn’t see filth. He doesn’t see broken ornaments on a building.”
Trump tore down the East Wing and is replacing it with a ballroom, enacted repairs and repainting of the columns of the North Portico, laid down paving over the Rose Garden and added gold wall fixtures to the Oval Office.
“I’ve taken care of the White House. I fixed it with the finest artisans in the world,” he said.
Trump tore down the East Wing of the White House (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)
“We have to explain to Obama that the White House is a symbol of America, and it has to be maintained properly.”
The White House X account then added its own comment, which included a dig at the restaurant’s huge menu, which includes 250 items.
“Since we’re talking about The Cheesecake Factory … The only thing bigger than the menu is the list of President Trump’s accomplishments,” it wrote alongside a list of claimed ‘accomplishments’, including ‘more than one million private sector jobs’ and ‘no taxes on tips or overtime’.
While it is far from the first time the pair have clashed, Obama started this present war of words on Saturday during a campaigning address to Democrats in Ohio.
He said Trump ‘should be on HGTV’, a reference to the Home and Garden Television network and added: “He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.”
On Monday Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reacted to Obama’s comments by having lunch at a Cheesecake Factory in Washington DC.
He told reporters, “This is the man who built the museum who looks like Darth Vader’s tomb,” referring to the Obama Presidential Center museum and library Obama had built in Chicago’s South Side.
Featured Image Credit: (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Topics: Donald Trump, Barack Obama, US News
