Trump rebukes Obama’s White House décor comparison at Mississippi rally
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President Donald Trump criticized former President Barack Obama’s remark that the White House resembled a Cheesecake Factory during a campaign event in Mississippi.
President Donald Trump responded to former President Barack Obama’s comment that the White House décor looked like a Cheesecake Factory while addressing supporters at a rally in Mississippi on Monday. Trump said Obama’s comparison was inaccurate and suggested the former president disliked successful businesses.
"He said, 'This isn’t a Cheesecake Factory.' Can you believe it? Which is a very successful company. He doesn’t like successful companies," Trump told the crowd.
Trump added that he had overseen a renovation of the White House, describing the work as done by “the finest artisans in the world” and asserting that the building had been in “horrible shape” before the changes.
"I’ve taken care of the White House. I fixed it with the finest artisans in the world. We reskinned it. It was in horrible shape," Trump said.
Obama had previously remarked at an Ohio rally that the White House had been altered with gold accents, a new ballroom, a helicopter pad on the South Lawn, and a paved Rose Garden, concluding with the quip that it looked like “Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.”
Commentators on social media noted the exchange, and a Treasury Department official was reported to have dined at a Cheesecake Factory in Washington, D.C., later that day.