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News · United StatesObama mocks Trump's White House, and the Cheesecake Factory feud goes viral
Obama said the White House looks like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory. The Treasury Secretary responded by eating at one of those restaurants. Days before the election, the joke keeps going around.
Translated from the original Spanish article. Read in Spanish
News published on October 29, 2026. The situation may have changed since then.
Days before the November 3 midterm elections, the most talked-about fight of the campaign isn't about taxes or wars: it's about a restaurant chain.
The joke
Over the weekend, at a rally in Ohio, former president Barack Obama criticized Donald Trump's renovations at the White House, with its new ballroom and gold details. He said the building looks like "Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory".
The Cheesecake Factory is a very popular US restaurant chain, famous for its over-the-top decor.
Cheesecake Factory shares have more than doubled in 2026, according to MarketWatch.
The response
Trump defended his renovations. And Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went to eat at a Cheesecake Factory: he said he ordered his usual burger and that Obama's wealthy friends should try it.
Other Republicans accused Obama of mocking ordinary people who eat at those restaurants. His defenders say the joke wasn't aimed at customers, but at Trump's gilded luxury.
Round two
On Wednesday the 28th, Obama and Trump held rallies at the same time: Obama in Atlanta and Trump in Ohio.
Obama returned to the subject: he said the government mounted "a whole of government response to that joke, not to inflation". And he accused Trump of "doing arts and crafts while we are fighting a war".
Trump, for his part, promised in Ohio to bring a new Space Academy there if Republican senator Jon Husted wins.
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Sources (in Spanish)
- Mítines del 28 de octubre y respuesta de Bessent: Fox News y CNN.
- Origen de la broma y reacciones: Axios y IBTimes.
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons under free licenses; the author and license are shown under each image.
