Obama's Cheesecake Factory Joke About Trump Draws Responses From Trump and Vance
Former President Barack Obama joked about President Trump's White House renovations at a campaign rally in Cleveland on Oct. 24, 2026. He spoke for Sherrod Brown, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio. Obama said the White House looked "like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory. Just gold everywhere."
Obama also said Trump had been "supergluing gold medallions to the mantel in the Oval Office." He said Trump had paved over the Rose Garden and was building a ballroom bigger than the White House.
Obama used the rally to criticize the administration more broadly. He said it had left ordinary Americans behind as they dealt with the cost of living and the economic effects of the war in Iran. He described "two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption" and said the administration's leaders were not "serious people," according to NPR.
Trump responded that he had taken care of the White House and fixed it with the finest artisans in the world. He said the building had been in terrible shape and is now in the best shape since 1792. He also called Obama "not a smart guy."
The official White House account on X posted a photo of a Cheesecake Factory menu. The post said the only thing bigger than the menu is the list of Trump's accomplishments.
Vice President JD Vance accused Obama of elitism over the joke. Vance said Obama "just can't help himself for being super elitist."
Critics of the joke called it "snobbery," according to The Guardian. Defenders of the restaurant chain described it as offering "affordable opulence."
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ate lunch at a Cheesecake Factory near the White House on the Monday after Obama's remarks. He ordered a French Dip Cheeseburger.
Obama later said the restaurant chain was his "jam," according to a report published Oct. 29. The exchange continued at dueling midterm campaign events as of Oct. 28.
The Cheesecake Factory was started in 1978 by David Overton. It now has 218 locations.
