U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent makes a presentation regarding the Trump account in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, in Washington, DC.
Annabelle Gordon Bloomberg | Getty Images
Would you like me to eat cheesecake?
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday became the latest right-wing commentator to derisively compare President Donald Trump’s ostentatious White House renovations to former President Barack Obama’s elitism. cheesecake factory.
But Bessent, a former hedge fund manager with an estimated net worth of about $600 million, put his money where his mouth is, dining at chain restaurants and praising their food before giving his opinion to the former Democratic president.
“This is the guy who built a museum that looks like Darth Vader’s tomb,” Bessent told a Fox Business reporter who asked about President Obama’s comments as he left the restaurant. Bessent was apparently referring to the Obama Presidential Center, a monolithic structure that opened in June.
“I’ve had great meals, I always have great meals, and I just tell the Martha’s Vineyard set to try it,” Bessent said. Obama vacationed on Martha’s Vineyard as president, and he and his wife Michelle now own property on the exclusive island.
Bessent said he ordered “something I always eat, a French dip cheeseburger.”
It’s the “Grilled Cheeseburger,” one of the “glamburgers” on The Cheesecake Factory’s famously expansive menu, with grilled onions, sriracha mayonnaise and au jus for dipping on a toasted brioche roll. The burger, which comes with fries or a green salad, currently costs $22.95 at the downtown Washington restaurant.
The Cheesecake Factory photographed on May 2, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia.
Kayla Bartkowski | Getty Images
“I recommend the cheeseburger spring rolls,” Bessent added in a follow-up post about X to Obama.
Mr. Bessent’s harsh comments followed remarks by other Mr. Trump allies who claimed Mr. Obama mocked working-class Americans when he attacked Mr. Trump over large-scale construction and decoration projects at the White House.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he seems so focused on home renovations. He should be on HGTV!” President Obama said of Trump on Saturday during a speech at a rally for Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton and U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown.
“There’s money everywhere. What happened to the money?” Obama continued. “He made the White House look like Saddam Hussein opened a cheesecake factory.”
Former President Barack Obama speaks at a midterm campaign rally with Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on October 24, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan.
Bill Priano | AFP | Getty Images
The audience cheered and laughed at President Obama, who has long mocked President Trump’s money-intensive reshuffle of the White House.
Since being re-elected as president, Trump has spent considerable time discussing renovations to the Oval Office, which now includes many decorations and a pile of gold leaf. He also built the White House helipad, the White House Ballroom, which is still under construction, and a series of other projects.
President Trump defended the White House redesign at length Monday afternoon, claiming that President Obama failed to tackle necessary renovations.
“I have to explain to President Obama that the White House is a symbol of America and it has to be properly maintained,” Trump said on his way to Mississippi for a campaign rally. “Someone like Obama doesn’t see that. He can’t see the dirt. He can’t see the filth. He can’t see the broken ornaments of buildings.”
“It has to be clean,” Trump continued. “The pillars don’t break. There’s no way a brick could fall out from under the plaster. And calling this a cheesecake factory shows why you’re a bad president.”
Critics argued that President Obama’s use of a cheesecake factory as an example of cheap, ostentatious decoration was nothing short of class warfare.
Republican commentator Matt Whitlock wrote that “X” is “typical Obama snobbery.” “The Cheesecake Factory is a great option for those who can’t afford a personal chef for their Martha’s Vineyard mansion.”
Republican commentator Scott Jennings called former President Obama “invincible in looking down on ordinary people” and claimed that the former president “has never been in a cheesecake factory.”
That backlash quickly sparked a backlash of its own.
“This is actually a condescending view of working class people,” popular menswear influencer Derek Guy wrote on X.
“I grew up in a working-class immigrant family and had ‘fancy nights out’ at Red Lobster and the Cheesecake Factory. But even we understood that the White House should not look like the inside of a Red Lobster,” Guy wrote. “Working-class people are not culturally illiterate just because their experiences are shaped by limited means.”
The food fight comes days before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, with most polls and analyst projections showing Democrats poised to make significant gains in Congress.
The election cycle has been defined by widespread dissatisfaction among Americans over high costs, pushing President Trump’s approval ratings to new lows and jeopardizing Republican majorities in the House and Senate.
The Cheesecake Factory is scheduled to report third-quarter financial results on Tuesday.
