Is Donald Trump lovin' it? You bet he is!
The grand mahogany table of the White House State Dining Room was full of Big Macs, Chicken Legends and salty fries (all served on fine china, of course) on Monday after the president served fast food to a winning sporting team for the second time.
The former reality TV star's guests of honour this time were the North Dakota State Bison football team which won the FCS College Football Championship in January for the seventh time in eight years - and was rewarded with Wendy's, Chick-fil-A and Macy's at 600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
His decision to give the team fast food has been heavily discussed online, given the fact that it's not the first time it's happened.
At the time, the move was put down to the government shutdown and blamed on the Democrats. About a quarter of the federal government was shut down for 35 days after Trump demanded $5.7 billion to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico. It was the longest U.S. government shutdown in history, one where some 800,000 federal employees were forced to go on unpaid leave or work without pay.
"The President wanted to host a fun event to celebrate the College Football National Champion Clemson Tigers," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement at the time. "Because the Democrats refuse to negotiate on border security, much of the residence staff at the White House is furloughed - so the President is personally paying for the event to be catered with some of everyone's favourite fast foods."
In addition, Trump himself said: "They had a fantastic game against Alabama and they’re all here. They’re right outside the room and I think we’re going to let you see them. But I’ll bet you, as much food as we have — we have pizzas, we have 300 hamburgers, many, many french fries, all of our favourite foods.
"I want to see what’s here when we leave, because I don’t think it’s going to be much. The reason we did this is because of the shutdown. We want to make sure that everything is right, so we sent out, we got this."
The reasoning for ordering in fast food this time was seemingly due to the president's perceived success of the first time, with him telling his guests: "We could've had chefs, we could have, but we had fast food -- because I know you people."
However, the move has been criticised online, with many people on social media insisting that champion sporting teams deserved a "real meal" rather than "cold burgers."
So, should Trump carry on this tradition of offering up cheapy takeaway grub to sports champs? Or does the president need to sort his act out and give them the good stuff?
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