The Secret Donald Trump Button That Joe Biden Removed From The Oval Office Desk
Joe Biden was sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 2021, making it clear that compared to Donald Trump, things would be... different. On his first full day, Biden wasted no time undoing many Trump policies, including rejoining the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and undoing our exile from the World Health Organization, per CNN. The 46th president also made some immediate cosmetic changes to the Oval Office, including removing one of Donald Trump's favorite self-implemented features. No, not the portrait of former President Andrew Jackson, though he ditched that too. We're talking about... the Diet Coke button.
Donald Trump was known to be fueled by the Golden Arches (due, allegedly, to concerns about being poisoned) and by Diet Coke, guzzling "a dozen" per day, according to The New York Times. But his fizzy fixation went even further. A thing of legend, the Associated Press wrote about the button in 2018, saying Trump had "a red button on his desk in the Oval Office." When pressed, "a White House butler walked in with a single glass of Diet Coke on a silver tray for the commander in chief." Yup, the Diet Coke button on the Resolute Desk was real.
As a reporter for The Times noted, the (admittedly well-camouflaged) button has been removed, causing "Diet Coke" to bubble up to the top of Twitter's trending topics on Jan. 21, 2021. Maybe Joe Biden is a Sprite guy. Regardless, (soda) stream down to slide two for how people are hilariously reacting.
The internet is losing it over Donald Trump's bubbly button
So how has the internet (specifically Twitter) reacted to the news that Joe Biden has "canned" Donald Trump's Diet Coke button? Whether some people hadn't realized The Donald even had the button, or they just wanted a laugh, seemingly everyone is vending out the memes.
"Look if this was a can of soda, it's a waste. But if it was like a really good fountain Diet Coke? I want one.'" one Twitter user jokingly wrote. "FAMILY GUY WASNT JOKING ABOUT THE 'DIET COKE BUTTON'?" wrote another, alongside an image of the animated show referencing the button. "'biden has removed the diet coke button'. all of us: there was a diet coke button...............?" wrote a third, noting its absurdity. "What trashy a***** sets up a 'Diet Coke' button with a Presidential seal on it in the oval office and expected a 'Diet Coke' be delivered on a silver platter every time it's pressed? Biden couldn't get rid of it fast enough," wrote a fourth, not mincing words. "Am I the only one scared to learn what else they're going to find there?" another user replied to that one. Clearly, not many people knew that this button existed.
Meanwhile, others just appreciated the button's carbonated hilarity. "It's the little things that cracked me up," another wrote. Ultimately, Donald Trump's Diet Coke button is simply another strange feature of the 45th president to remember him by. Is anyone else now suddenly thirsty?
Biden made plenty of other changes to the Oval Office
In addition to forgoing Donald Trump's beloved (and truly hilarious) Diet Coke button, Joe Biden made a couple of other changes as he assumed his new position as President of the United States. One of which included swapping Trump's bust of Winston Churchill for civil rights activist Cesar Chavez — a quite literal representation of the varying beliefs of the outgoing and incoming administration, per The Guardian. Biden also added busts of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Robert F. Kennedy.
As for the art that hung on walls, Biden ditched Trump's portrait of Andrew Jackson for Benjamin Franklin — another change that spoke volumes, considering Jackson's legacy of white nationalism (as per Vox) and Franklin's contributions to science. A portrait of former President Franklin Roosevelt also hangs on the walls of the Oval Office in the company of Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln — now that sounds like a (political) party!
One similarity between the decor of Biden's Oval Office and Trump's is their family photos. Trump sat behind a collection of posed family photos and a framed picture of wife Melania Trump could be seen front and center, per Politico. As for Biden, he brought with him a photo of his late son Beau Biden, who died from brain cancer in 2015. He also displayed a picture of his mother, Catherine Eugenia Finnegan, among other family photos, including First Lady Jill Biden and several grandchildren.