Trump Shuns White House Chefs in Favor of Fast Food for Football Players

Déjà vu: Trump lays out another fast food buffet for college athletes

Championship football team North Dakota State (also know as the Bison) visited the White House yesterday and were presented with a now-familiar sight: a lengthy smorgasboard of fast food fare. While Trump had to source external food due to the partial government shutdown (meaning that the White House chefs were furloughed) when the Clemson Tigers visited in January, this time, Trump voluntarily shunned the chefs in favor of McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A. He spun it as a deliberate choice and a way to support American business, saying “we like American companies.” “I know you people,” he added, suggesting that athletes couldn’t possibly enjoy something fancier. In a bizarre choice of optics, Trump also gave a speech commiserating victims from Monday’s tornados in Alabama and Georgia right in front of several mounds of sandwiches and hamberders hamburgers.

And in other news...

• Nothing is real anymore as large multinational chain KFC just dedicated a restaurant in China to long-dead communist icon Lei Feng, a former soldier who some academics believe was made up to serve propaganda purposes. It’ll probably be a matter of hours until somebody blames AOC. [AP]
• Starbucks’ latest gimmick is the Cloud Macchiato, announced today. It’s a foamy drink made with egg white powder and inspired by Spanish meringue milk; it comes in caramel and cinnamon flavors. Starbucks Canada also has something fresh, introducing a black sesame latte. [CNN/Press Release]
• Papa John as been all but written out of his eponymous pizza chain: founder John Schnatter has now agreed to leave the company’s board after over a year of drama surrounding racist remarks he made. [WSJ]
• As the possibility of a messy Brexit looms in the UK, the country will likely have plenty of meat, potatoes, and milk, but could find itself short on tomatoes, Parmesan, and wine. [Bloomberg]
• Your kitchen measuring cups and spoons might be lying to you, as WaPo discovers that the actual quantities in some of those utensils seems to vary a lot. [Washington Post]
• Brooklyn-born chef Edward Lee has a thoughtful essay on the ways that New York City graffiti influenced his culinary career. [NYTimes]
• Amy Schumer sated her pregnancy cravings with some beignets at New Orleans’ Café du Monde (she also smeared powdered sugar on her face). [Instagram]
• When you hear the word “flavortown”, do you immediately think of feet? Apparently one San Diego Guy Fieri fan did. [Twitter]

• All AM Intel Coverage [E]