Donald Trump's "Hamberder" Dinner

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Overview

Donald Trump's "Hamberder" Dinner refers to a White House-hosted dinner for the Alabama Clemson Tigers football team in celebration of their College Football Playoff National Championship victory. As per United States President Donald Trump's request, the meal was catered by several fast-food restaurants, including McDonald's, Wendy's and more.

Background

On January 7th, 2019, the college football team the Alabama Clemson Tigers won the College Football Playoff National Championship.^[1] The following week, President Trump announced that he would be having the team to the White House for a celebratory dinner of "McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King, with some pizza" (shown below, left) On January 14th, he said, "I believe--I don't know if the weather changes things--but the Clemson championship team, the national championship team, will be coming tonight. It will be exciting. Very great team. They'll be coming tonight. I think we're going to serve McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King, with some pizza. I really mean it. It would be interesting. I would think that's their favorite food. So we'll see what happens."

That evening, Trump welcomed the team with a buffet from the aforementioned fast food restaurants (shown below, right).

Developments

Online Reaction

On January 14th, the White House tweeted ^[2] posted a picture of the food spread, as well as a photograph of Trump behind the food table. They wrote, "Earlier this evening, President @realDonaldTrump treated the Clemson Tigers football team to dinner in the State Dining Room!" The tweet received more than 6,000 retweets and 21,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below).

That evening, Twitter^[3] user @hunterw tweeted a video of the dinner. He wrote, "Here’s a video I shot of President Trump showing off his 300 hamburgers." The tweet received more than 18,000 retweets, 63,000 likes and 5 million views in less than 24 hours (shown below).

Following the release of various videos, reports and images, people online began posting jokes about the dinner. Twitter^[4] user @robrousseau tweeted, "One 12-year-old boy. One magic amulet. One crazy election. PRESIDENT BIG BOY coming this fall on NBC." The tweet received more than 2,200 retweets and 12,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, left). Comedian W. Kumau Bell tweeted,^[5] "White House Staffer, choking through tears – 'I… guess… we could… use the… Lincoln gravy boats… for the… Mc… the McNug… the McNugget sauces.'" The tweet received more than 18,000 retweets and 78,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, center). Twitter^[6] user @briandpowell tweeted, "honestly being served cold burgers by a smirking billionaire is pretty much the #NCAA 'student-athlete' experience in a nutshell." The tweet received more than 400 retweets and 1,300 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

Hamberder Typo

The following morning, President Trump tweeted, "Great being with the National Champion Clemson Tigers last night at the White House. Because of the Shutdown I served them massive amounts of Fast Food (I paid), over 1000 hamberders etc. Within one hour, it was all gone. Great guys and big eaters!" The tweet was later deleted (shown below).^[7]

Despite Trump's claims, the Washington Post estimated the amount of food at the dinner, determining that there were about 319 sandwiches valued at $2,400 at the dinner (breakdown below).^[8]