U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardoning ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 25, 2025.
President Donald Trump is a longtime fan of fast food, from scarfing down McDonald's fare to selling lots of hot dogs at his state fair in Washington DC (some of which were reportedly old). Now Trump is getting hot dogs for everyone in the Secret Service when they protect him at his golf clubs — but there is a catch, and social media is noticing it.
"Donald Trump loves hot dogs—loves them. But he reserves a particular devotion for the ones served at the snack shack beside the 11th tee box at Trump National Golf Club outside Washington, D.C.—wieners that, on Trump’s personal scale of human achievement, probably rank somewhere between mankind’s first glimpse of gold in a riverbed and the construction of Trump Tower," reported Forbes journalist Dan Alexander on Monday.
"'He has this weird, very odd pride about how good the hot dogs are,' says a former club employee, who remembers Trump personally ensuring that everyone in his orbit experienced the majesty of the Trump dog," Alexander added. "'That’s his thing,' the employee says. 'The chef has to be out there. And he’s like, 'Chef, get everyone a hot dog—all these guys.''"
Alexander continued, "And everyone means everyone—roughly 30 carts full of Secret Service agents included. But the president’s frankfurters are not free, according to an ex-employee. Ethics rules restrict agents from accepting gifts from those they serve. So Trump’s club charges the agency that protects him."
The Forbes journalist then quoted the employee as saying 'It got to the point where we had to start a Secret Service account at the club so that he could see them getting the hot dogs, but then we could charge the Secret Service for the hot dogs.'"
Alexander summed up his take on the situation by writing, "There, in one all-beef transaction, is the Trump presidency in miniature: Trump owns the club. Trump controls the chef. Trump doles out the hot dogs. Trump watches everyone eat them. Then Trump’s business sends the government the bill."
Others online shared Alexander's outrage. Posting on X, congressional scholar Norm Ornstein wrote that "grifter. Utter grifter."
Sports journalist Rick Reilly, who wrote a book about Trump's golfing called "Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump," posted on X, "Funny Trump golf story in Forbes today ... he starts with bacon + eggs for b'fast, then a big hot dog halfway thru the round, then a bacon cheeseburger for lunch."
Reilly closed by joking, "The man's bloodstream must be 98% nitrites by now ..."
Liberal activist Jason Levin also joked about Trump's hot dog-related antics.
"Trump, allegedly running a hot‑dog side hustle out of his golf empire, inflating concession numbers like they’re polling data he wishes were real," Levin posted on X.
