President Joe Biden only took office Wednesday, but he's already made some changes in the Oval Office, and the significance of one of them is quite clear: He's less fond of soda than his predecessor.
On Thursday, a political commentator with London outlet The Times, Tom Newton Dunn, reported that Biden had already removed a red button in the White House workspace that President Donald Trump relied on from early in his tenure. When Trump pushed it, a butler would bring him a Coke shortly after, according to an April 2017 article from the Associated Press.
"When … I interviewed Donald Trump in 2019, we became fascinated by what the little red button did," Newton Dunn wrote, in part, on Twitter. "Eventually Trump pressed it, and a butler swiftly brought in a Diet Coke on a silver platter. It's gone now."
AP reported that presidents have used the button for decades. The purpose Trump found for it was also covered by The New York Times in December 2017.
"Watching cable, he shares thoughts with anyone in the room, even the household staff he summons via a button for lunch or for one of the dozen Diet Cokes he consumes each day," the article stated.
Another change Biden has made to his Oval Office: The décor now includes a picture of his late son, Beau Biden, who died in 2015 at age 46 of brain cancer. The image, accompanied by other family photos including one of first lady Jill Biden, stands just behind the Resolute Desk.
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While Biden might not share the same passion for soft drinks, he does have his own edible vice, ice cream. In August, his grandchildren revealed that their grandfather is "always eating ice cream, usually vanilla," in a video released for the Democratic National Convention.
In fact, on Thursday, the day after the inauguration, an ice cream brand that Biden has a fondness for launched a new flavor in his honor. According to the company, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, Biden has been a frequent visitor of its shops since 2012, and its founder, Jeni Britton Bauer, got to know his go-to order, a double scoop of chocolate chip ice cream on a waffle cone.
The Biden-inspired confection is called White House Chocolate Chip. With a name like that, perhaps the 46th commander-in-chief will find a use for the button after all.
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