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- President Donald Trump drinks 12 cans of Diet Coke and watches as much as eight hours of TV per day, according to a new report in The New York Times.
- While he embraces his fast-food habit, Trump frequently disputes the claim that he is an avid consumer of cable news.
President Donald Trump drinks roughly 12 cans of Diet Coke every day, according to a lengthy New York Times profile about how he grapples with the daily demands of the presidency.
Trump is famous for his voracious consumption of cable news and tendency to fire off impulsive tweets when he’s displeased with the way he’s portrayed in the media. According to the Times report, the only people allowed to touch the TV remote are Trump and the technical support staff. The Times said the president watches up to eight hours of TV per day.
While he watches the news, Trump frequently likes to share his thoughts on the day’s headlines with whoever’s in the room — including members of the housekeeping staff, whom he “summons via a button for lunch or one of the dozen Diet Cokes he consumes each day,” per The Times.
Trump is known for his fast-food habit. According to a book written by former top campaign aides Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, “the orchestrating and timing of Mr. Trump’s meals” during the campaign “was as important as any other aspect of his march to the presidency.”
“On Trump Force One there were four major food groups: McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, pizza and Diet Coke,” the book said.
While he embraces his taste for fast food, Trump frequently pushes back against the notion that he’s an avid consumer of cable news.
When The Times reached out to him with a list of questions about its article, including one about his TV habits, Trump didn’t respond directly. He told reporters from other outlets last month that he didn’t have time to watch television because he was too busy reading “documents.”
“I do not watch much television,” Trump said. “I know they like to say — people that don’t know me — they like to say I watch television. People with fake sources — you know, fake reporters, fake sources. But I don’t get to watch much television, primarily because of documents. I’m reading documents a lot.”
He said as much in July, amid reports that the White House was in disarray as special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation was heating up.
“The W.H. is functioning perfectly, focused on HealthCare, Tax Cuts/Reform & many other things,” Trump tweeted at the time. “I have very little time for watching T.V.”
