WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump laid out a White House feast fit for a government shutdown on Monday: silver platters heaped high with McDonald’s quarter pounders and the red-and-white burger wrappers of Wendy’s.
White House chefs normally would serve much fancier fare underneath the stern gaze of the portrait of Abraham Lincoln in the State Dining Room. But they are furloughed, staying home without paychecks as Trump fights with Congress over funding the federal government.
The White House said Trump himself sprang for what he pronounced to be “great American food” for the visiting Clemson Tigers, winners of the US college football championship.
“We have pizzas, we have 300 hamburgers, many, many french fries, all of our favorite foods,” Trump told reporters, as one White House worker still on the job lit tapered candles.
“I want to see what’s here when we leave, because I don’t think it’s going to be much,” Trump said, before the players, dressed in dapper suits, flooded the room and piled their plates high.
About a quarter of the federal government has been shut down for the past 24 days after Trump dug in on a campaign pledge to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico, demanding $5.7 billion from Congress for the project. Democrats have rejected his demand.
Trump told the players afterward that he did not want to postpone the event until after the shutdown — which is already the longest in history — ended.
Shutdown meal? White House hosts college football champs with fast food dinner
Shutdown meal? White House hosts college football champs with fast food dinner
- ‘We have pizzas, we have 300 hamburgers, many, many french fries, all of our favorite foods’
- White House chefs normally serve much fancier fare, but are on furlough due to the shutdown
Harry Styles announces first album in 4 years, ‘Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally’
- It follows the critically acclaimed synth pop “Harry’s House,” which earned the former One Direction star album of the year at the 2023 Grammy Awards
- “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally” will contain 12 tracks and is executive produced by Kid Harpoon
NEW YORK: In this world, it’s just him: Harry Styles has announced that his long-awaited, fourth studio album will arrive this spring.
Titled “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally” and out March 6, the album is Styles’ first full-length project in four years. It follows the 2022, critically acclaimed synth pop record “Harry’s House,” which earned the former One Direction star the top prize of album of the year at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
In a review, The Associated Press celebrated “Harry’s House” for showcasing “a breadth of style that matches the album’s emotional range.”
On Instagram, Styles’ shared the cover artwork for “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally,” which features the 31-year-old artist in a T-shirt and jeans at night, standing underneath a shimmering disco ball hung outside.
According to a press release, “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally” will contain 12 tracks and is executive produced by Kid Harpoon. The British songwriter and producer has been a close collaborator of Styles’ since the beginning of his solo career, working on all of his albums since the singer’s 2017 self-titled debut.
“Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally” is now available for preorder.
It is also Styles’ first project since his former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne died in 2024 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina.
