President Trump's back from his big trip to Asia, and boy, was it exciting! In Japan, Donald asked Prime Minister Shinzo Abe why "samurai warriors" didn't "shoot down" North Korea's missiles. In South Korea, Donald trolled North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on Twitter, posting childish insults like a 70-year-old Eric Cartman. And in Vietnam, Donald bro'd out with Vladimir Putin, wearing matching blue blouses. Then he said he believes the word of the Russian President more than the U.S. intelligence community. It's so nice having a patriot in The White House again. Obviously, this trip was a yuuuge success - the greatest success, a lot of people say so, bigly. The President was very excited to talk about it in a speech. Perhaps too excited. Ten minutes into his recap, he stopped, in desperate need of a drink of water. The reporters - who are usually so unfair to Trump - pointed out a nearby table stocked with Fiji water bottles. Thankfully, this was accurate information, and not "fake news." The President picked up the water, and took an awkward drink with two hands, clutching it like a toddler, or an alien trying to act human, but failing. (Hey, we already know he doesn't have normal hair.) [[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhjM3MZOeEw]] Perhaps President Trump didn't have a choice, though. When your hands are that small, you have to use two. But it's not just funny because of the awkwardness. It's funny because of the hypocrisy. Just a year ago, President Trump mocked one of his rivals for a similar drinking problem. It happened back in 2013. Sen. Marco Rubio was giving the Republican response to President Obama's State Of The Union address. Sweating under the studio lights, he suddenly bent over, grabbed a water bottle and took a desperate sip. The gaffe instantly went viral. [[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19ZxJVnM5Gs]] Flash forward to 2016, when Donald Trump and Marco Rubio were running for the Republican nomination. Trump mocked Rubio for his gaffe with this snarky Tweet: [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/301767471562629120]] "Next time Marco Rubio should drink his water from a glass as opposed to a bottle—would have much less negative impact." But that's not all. At one of his rallies, Trump called Rubio a "choke artist" and did a goofy impression of him, splashing water into the crowd. [[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-s7eG2ckN4]] Admittedly, that was pretty funny. Also, it's funny to see karma catch up to Trump, with his own water-drinking gaffe. Oh, how the tables have turned. Senator Rubio weighed in on Twitter to critique Trump's form, and get some revenge. It turns out he has a decent sense of humor, when he isn't trying to take health care away from poor people. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/930902480623321088]] “Similar, but needs work on his form. Has to be done in one single motion & eyes should never leave the camera. But not bad for his 1st time.” Of course, everyone else on Twitter had a field day roasting Trump. They pointed out the comparison to Rubio, as well as the ironic Fiji Water product placement: [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/ashleyfeinberg/status/930901061015089152]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/StevenTDennis/status/930901965051236354]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/Dalrymple/status/930903600900882432]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/Kanisha1Jackson/status/930910686225555462]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/calebecarma/status/930901488523673600]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/SimonMaloy/status/930902973349318656]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/SteveKopack/status/930902222770266112]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/funder/status/930903168665473026]] But you know what? It's nice to have a Trump gaffe that's about something innocent, like drinking water weird. Instead of, say, telling a grieving widow her son "knew what he signed up for" or copy-and-pasting the wrong statement about a shooting tragedy. More gaffes like this, please.  

Donald Trump has often said he’s never had a drink in his life; not even a sip. It’s a point of pride for the former president, who’s attributed his lifelong abstinence to the tragic story of his older brother, Fred Trump Jr., who died in 1981 after years of struggling with alcohol.

Appearing on comedian Theo Von’s podcast This Past Weekend last year, Trump repeated the claim. “I never have,” Trump said when asked if he drank or smoked. “I had a great brother who taught me a lesson.”

Fred, he explained, was “a great guy” and “a very handsome guy” who battled alcohol addiction. “He smoked and drank… but I tell people, ‘No drugs, no drinking, no cigarettes.’ I tell that to my kids all the time,” Trump added.

The story has become part of Trump’s mythology; the disciplined mogul who swapped champagne for Diet Coke, even installing a “Diet Coke button” in the Oval Office during his first presidency, and again after returning to the White House for a second term.

But not everyone’s buying it.

Donald Trump pictured with then-wife Ivana Trump at his 42nd birthday party in 1988. Credit: Ron Galella / Getty Images.

Former bartenders say they served Trump alcohol

According to multiple sources quoted in the 2019 book The Method to the Madness, not everyone remembers Trump as a teetotaler.

As reported by Vice, a former bartender known only as Laraby claimed he personally served Trump alcohol while working at a high-end New York bar in the 1990s.

“I served him,” Laraby said. “And he drank at the bar. He would order light beer. It was usually Miller Lite or Bud Light.”

The bartender added that Trump wasn’t a heavy drinker. “He’d nurse his beer,” he said. “Even if they were there for hours, he would have three beers at the most.”

Another nightlife insider, Michael Ault, owner of the famed Spy Bar and Chaos clubs in Manhattan, offered a slightly different account, claiming Trump was more of a champagne or vodka drinker.

“He was drinking champagne or vodka,” Ault said. “A liquor, not really a beer so much.”

One insider defends Trump’s sobriety

Not everyone agrees with the nightlife gossip. Paolo Zampolli, founder of ID Models and the man credited with introducing Trump to Melania, insists he never saw Trump drink.

Speaking about their first meeting at New York’s Kit Kat Club, Zampolli recalled: “I introduced them, ‘Melania, please meet Donald.’ You could see champagne and vodka on the table, but for sure Mr. Trump had only Diet Coke.”

Trump is said to love Diet Coke. Credit: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA / Getty Images.

Myth or memory?

The conflicting accounts paint a murky picture: either Trump truly has never “drunk a drop,” or some hazy memories from 1990s Manhattan have turned into urban legend.

Still, Trump’s story of sobriety remains a key part of his public persona; a disciplined, controlled image reinforced every time he raises a glass of Diet Coke instead of champagne.

And whether or not he ever ordered that Miller Lite, it’s clear the myth of Trump’s abstinence is as strong (and as carefully maintained) as ever.

Featured image credit: Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images.

We all know Donald Trump loves fast food. When he was on the campaign trail, he posted a picture of himself eating KFC with a knife and a fork. In an interview with Anderson Cooper, he called McDonald's Big Macs and Fillet-O-Fish "great stuff." In the White House, he orders Coca-Cola by pushing a little red button on his desk. His lifestyle's rich and classy, but his meals are the exact opposite. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/760299757206208512]] There's nothing wrong with eating a little fast food now and then. Well, there is, but shut up, it's delicious. There are times when we've all said, "Screw it. I'm not making dinner, I'm going to Taco Bell." We might regret it the next day (or in an hour), but it was so worth it. Even Bill Clinton famously enjoyed his Mickey D's. When presidents eat the same crap we do, they seem more relatable. However, a new book reveals Trump's diet to be much grosser - and weirder - than we imagined. Trump's former campaign managers Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie wrote Let Trump Be Trump. It's a tell-all book that offers a glimpse behind the curtain of Donald Trump's wild, unpredictable crisis-filled campaign. There are a lot of juicy details - like how press secretary Hope Hicks steamed Trump's pants while he was still wearing them - but the juiciest details are about his diet. Actually, I shouldn't use the word juice. Juice is too healthy. I think grease is more appropriate. The greasiest details are about his diet. [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/realdonaldtrump/]] According to the authors, Trump's typical order at McDonald's is “Two Big Macs, two Fillet-O-Fish, and a chocolate malted.” First of all, beef, fish and a milkshake? Gross. Second, wow, all that food's just for him? That equals 2,430 calories and 11g of fat. The daily recommended calorie intake for a not-very-active man Trump's age is 2,000 calories. He's exceeding it with one meal! Maybe he thinks the daily recommended calorie intake is "fake news." (Or maybe he burns a lot of calories rage-tweeting every morning.) But there are even greasier details. Bossie and Lewandowski write, "On Trump Force One there were four major food groups: McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, pizza and Diet Coke.” Remember when Trump tweeted, "I have never seen a thin person drinking Diet Coke"? I guess he was speaking from experience. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/257552283850653696]] And that's not all. The plane was also stocked with fruit and vegetables. Just kidding. The plane was also stocked with Vienna Fingers, potato chips, pretzels and "many packages of Oreos." Why multiple packages? As a noted germophobe, Trump refused to eat out of any package that was previously opened. And this diet was taken very seriously. The authors wrote that “the orchestrating and timing of Mr. Trump’s meals was as important as any other aspect of his march to the presidency." (Though with this diet, it's more of a waddle than a march.) You may wonder, is this really the healthiest diet for a 71-year-old man? Well, there's no reason to worry about Trump's health. In December 2015, Trump's personal doctor, Harold Bornstei, described his health as “astonishingly excellent" after a five minute assessment. Then he added “If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." Forget the Atkins diet - get on the Trump diet, and order “Two Big Macs, two Fillet-O-Fish, and a chocolate malted.” It's all part of the art of the meal.    

It doesn't seem like Donald Trump is in good physical health. Sure, he doesn't drink alcohol or doesn't smoke cigarettes. But he's 71 years old, his favorite exercise is golf, and he loves fast food. According to his former campaign manager, his regular order at McDonald's is two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish and a chocolate milkshake. For one meal. That's a yuge amount of calories. Some people are even speculating about Trump's mental health. I mean, we've all seen him make delusional comments, claiming to be a "very stable genius" and "the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." Now this talk is getting more serious. In Michael Wolff's new book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, some staffers claim Trump shows signs of dementia, telling the same stories over and over again, within the span of ten minutes. (And, come on, what kind of "stable genius" calls other nations "shithole countries?") [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/951983384213016576]] With the president's health under heavy skepticism, the White House physician, Dr. Ronny Jackson, held a press conference. He said he performed an exam, and found Trump to be "very sharp," "in excellent health" and has "absolutely no cognitive or mental issues whatsoever." [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/953489237101465610]] Reporters asked how Trump could possibly have a clean bill of health, considering his calorie bomb diet. Dr. Jackson responded, "It’s called genetics. Some people have just great genes. I told the president that if he had a healthier diet over the last 20 years he might live to be 200 years old.” Some Twitter users mocked the doctor's positive review, which was so effusive it resembled those outrageous Chuck Norris facts, or those The Most Interesting Man In The World commercials. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/TooMuchKarate/status/953423608776482816]] However, some of the results were suspicious: According to the exam, President Trump weighs 239 pounds and is 75 inches tall (6'3"). Considering his age (71), that means his BMI is 30.3, making him just one pound away from being classified as clinically obese. Is that just a coincidence, or did they fudge the numbers to avoid a humiliating result? [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/AHamiltonSpirit/status/953425027902459905]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/953379719843602432]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/LiveLoveLifeDo/status/953395636979884033]] And just like that, the Girther Movement was born! It's a hilarious spin on Trump's Birther Movement. In case you don't remember, for years, Trump refused to believe that Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. Instead, he claimed Obama was born in Kenya, and was a secret Muslim foreign agent. He demanded that Obama show birth certificate, and when Obama did, he called it a forgery, and refused to accept it as real. He publicly offered a five million dollar reward for "proof" Obama was born in the United States. Then he raised the reward to fifty million. It was pretty insane, and incredibly disrespectful, so I'd say this Girther Movement is fair play. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/LawyerRogelio/status/953634754330492930]] Actually, the Girther Movement seems far more plausible than the Birther Movement. Many Twitter users showed side-by-side comparisons of Donald Trump standing next to athletes with the same height and the same weight that he purports to be. Needless to say, their physiques don't quite match. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/VBoDC/status/953421253733330945]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/mersmom8/status/953591315551449089]] And it's not just his weight that's under dispute. Some people think Trump's height may have been fudged as well. On his 2012 driver's license, Trump listed his height as 74 inches. Now, according to Dr. Jackson, his height 75 inches. "I'm a girther because old men don't GROW an inch!" wrote one Twitter user. (yeah I know, we all fudge our height and weight on our driver's licenses, but the photos are funny, so let's just go with it.) [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/GershKuntzman/status/953382607496114177]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/nanci_wissler/status/953459567546920960]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/LadyLiberty1491/status/953422165994598400]] Surprisingly, a famous Hollywood filmmaker joined in the fun: James Gunn, who wrote and directed both of the Guardians Of The Galaxy movies. He's an expert at telling stories about aliens of all shapes and sizes, whose bodies are strange, unnatural colors. Who better to analyze Trump? [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/953443657541025792]] James tweeted a photo of Trump standing next to baseball player Alex Rodriguez, who is obviously a couple inches taller, with the comment, "Two 6'3" men standing next to each other." Then, he made an offer in the style of Trump's famous 'five million dollar reward,' writing, "I will give 100 thousand dollars to Trump's favorite charity if he will step on an accurate scale with an impartial medical professional, okayed by both of us. For real." [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/953433094102556672]] Some people found a loophole in James' offer: "Favorite charity" could refer to anything. As one Twitter user replied, "He could then have the Foundation commission a $100 portrait of himself to hang in the lobby of his country club." James responded, joking, "I would be afraid that it's the Ku Klux Klan but there's no way in hell he's 239 pounds, so I don't have to worry about it." [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/953437440420626432]] Die-hard Trump supporters, including famous pundits like Piers Morgan, were quick to accuse the Girther Movement of fat-shaming and body-shaming. (Which is pretty rich, considering these same people attacked Hillary Clinton for not being physically fit or mentally fit during her presidential campaign.) However, James was quick to respond his critics, explaining, "This has nothing to do with fat shaming. It has to do with a continuous pattern of fabricating facts by both Trump and his administration." [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/953454844903268354]] Hopefully President Trump will accept James' offer. $100,000 could buy a lot of Big Mac's.