It’s no secret that Donald Trump isn’t the healthiest man alive. The president is famously fond of McDonald’s, reportedly eating it daily. Now, U.S. Health Secretary RFK Jr. has weighed in on his boss’s “really bad” diet, asking the question: How is Trump still alive?
Donald Trump isn’t known for healthy eating. The president has a well-documented love of fast food and snacks, with little exercise and virtually no vegetables. In a 2016 interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Trump called the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder “great stuff.”
On October 20, during his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump worked behind the counter at a McDonald’s in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania.
“I love McDonald’s,” Trump said at the time. “I like to see good jobs, and I think it’s inappropriate when somebody puts down all over the place that she worked at McDonald’s.”
Trump’s passion for McDonald’s has been a long-running love story. In 2017, Politico reported that during his 2016 campaign, Trump’s bodyguard Keith Schiller routinely made fast food runs to a McDonald’s near the Marine Air Terminal in Queens while Trump waited in his limousine.
“Egg McMuffins were often the order in the morning, or two quarter-pounders and a large fries later in the day,” Politico reported, citing a former aide.
Donald Trump’s fast food diet
The outlet also noted that Schiller would head to McDonald’s in Washington, D.C., if “the White House kitchen staff couldn’t match the satisfaction of a quarter-pounder with cheese (no pickles, extra ketchup) and a fried apple pie.”
In their 2017 book Let Trump Be Trump, former campaign officials Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie wrote that Trump’s go-to order was “two Big Macs, two Fillet-O-Fish and a chocolate malted shake.”
While fast food isn’t ideal as a dietary staple, Trump has offered a somewhat rational explanation for his habits. In Michael Wolff’s 2018 book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, the author claimed Trump had a longstanding fear of being poisoned.
Wolff wrote that Trump believed food from fast food chains was safer because it was prepared without advance notice of his arrival.
Beyond fast food, Trump reportedly enjoys well-done steaks with ketchup. In 2016, his former butler Tony Senecal — who passed away in 2020 — told the Palm Beach Post that Trump instructed him not to add any “garbage” to his plate. That meant no relishes, garnishes, or vegetables.
RFK Jr. critiques Trump’s diet
As Trump returns to the White House with his “America First” agenda, the administration’s stance on nutrition has shifted. Just days ago, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. introduced new dietary guidelines focused on whole foods, proteins, and healthy fats.
“Protein and healthy fats are essential and were wrongly discouraged in prior dietary guidelines,” Kennedy said. “We are ending the war on saturated fats.”
The guidelines also call for a “dramatic reduction” in the consumption of “highly processed foods laden with refined carbohydrates, added sugars, excess sodium, unhealthy fats, and chemical additives.” So how does this align with Trump’s eating habits? It’s safe to assume his McDonald’s orders won’t be changing anytime soon.
On Katie Miller’s podcast, RFK Jr. discussed Trump’s diet, admitting he’s surprised the president is still alive.
“The interesting thing about the president is that he eats really bad food, which is McDonald’s, and, you know, candy and Diet Coke. But he drinks Diet Coke at all times. He has the constitution of a deity. I don’t know how he’s alive, but he is,” Kennedy said.
The Health Secretary added that Trump claims to only eat fast food while “on the road,” saying he trusts big corporations and wants to avoid getting sick. At Mar-a-Lago, for example, he reportedly eats better meals.
“When he’s at Mar-a-Lago or the White House, he’s eating really good food,” RFK Jr. added, though he didn’t specify whether that food was actually healthier.
“When you travel with him, you get the impression that he’s just pumping himself full of poison all day long, and you don’t know how he’s walking around, much less being the most energetic person any of us have ever met,” Kennedy continued. “But I actually think he does eat pretty good food. I mean, he’s in incredible health.”
