White House staff will have about 5 hours to turn the residence and the Oval Office over from the Biden administration to the second Trump term, and when they do, they'll be putting the Diet Coke button back on the desk in the Oval. Trump and First Lady Melania will find things pretty much just as they'd left them four years ago.
The White House employs about 100 non-political employees who stay in place from president to president and it is these workers, the Daily Mail reports, who will do the January 20th turn over, moving Biden out and Trump in. The Trump's clothes will be put away, their toiletries in the bathrooms, and the kitchens will be stocked with the Trump's favorite foods—including Diet Coke.
It should be a relatively easy transition for the staff. They've already worked with the Trump family during his first term. "It's easier because they've lived there before," said author of The Residence Kate Anderson Brower to The Daily Mail. "There aren't any mysteries about what [the Trumps] would like to have for breakfast, how they operate, what kind of shampoo they use. I mean, they know everything already."
Trump is a known devotee of Diet Coke, known to drink up to 12 cans per day. Articles over the years have detailed his love of the beverage along with the 2016 campaign making routine stops at the McDonalds drive-thru. During the 2024 campaign, he worked the fryer and the drive-thru on a campaign visit.
"There’s so little time to be eating," Trump said. "It’s grabbing … I have lost 15 lbs. on the campaign trail. One of the reasons is I have big crowds … they’re very exciting stops. And when you speak and you really are going at it, you tend to … I never thought it, but speaking is almost a form of exercise. It’s very exhilarating. Last night I was in Knoxville for 12,000 people. When you are speaking to 12,000 great people, you don’t feel like eating. I can understand how people could gain weight but I have lost weight. The events are so exciting. When I’m done I don’t want to eat. I could see how it could go the other way for some people. That’s only because their events are boring."
The staff, the Daily Mail writes, are not political and "generally get along with whoever occupies the Oval Office." These are workers who have been in the White House for years and comprise butlers, maids, housekeepers, cooks, and others who keep things running.
