Every president has their own way of decorating the Oval Office and paying respect to those whom they admire. Similarly, Donald Trump has his quirks and decor ideas for his time in the Office that includes a red button.
Donald Trump has apparently decorated the Oval Office in several gold or golden pieces, just like his house at the Trump Towers. His affiliation with everything gold is well known. Among all this decor, something else came back: his red button.
During Trump’s previous term, his habit of eating KFC and enjoying his Diet Coke always made the news. His habit of Diet Coke borders on an addiction wherein he also has a special call button on his desk just for it.
During a recent conversation, JD Vance told a story where he, Senator Thune, and Speaker Johnson were discussing something with President Trump. Suddenly, mid-conversation, Trump pressed the red button on an ornate wooden box. He then glanced over at Vance, who was very confused. At Vance’s confusion, he told him that it was the Diet Coke button, and then someone came and delivered the Coke to the president.
During Trump’s first term, this red button was a point of curiosity among all the guests. It was reported that many guests assumed that it was the nuclear button on the president’s desk. Every time he pressed it, people would get worried about his sudden action.
One similar incident was when Demetri Sevastopulo, a Financial Times Magazine correspondent in Washington, DC, questioned Trump in 2017: “This isn’t the nuclear button, is it?
When you find out the red button Donald Trump pushed was for a Coke. #LSSC pic.twitter.com/9kq7fOdINn
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) April 27, 2017
There have been times when Donald Trump himself has told stories where he would be discussing a few important things with officials, and as soon as he pressed the said red button, people would look over at him, wondering what just happened. Trump would often laugh recalling people’s reactions to it.
Once Donald Trump was out of office, Joe Biden removed the button, but apparently, it has made a comeback on the Resolute desk during Trump’s second term.
On the Resolute Desk, this big red button instructs an aide to serve Trump his favorite beverage. Trump’s valet, Walt Nauta, was assigned to bring the president a Diet Coke.
As bizarre as it may seem, Donald Trump is not the only president with such a call button on his desk. According to Food and Wine Magazine, Billionaire Richard Branson has revealed that Barack Obama also had a button. However, Obama used it to ask for tea for his guests.
One wonders if Elon Musk also has one such button, which he presses every time new governmental funding is stopped.
