President Donald Trump has a sweet tooth and his favorites are pink Starbursts and Tootsie Rolls.
So said Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, at a briefing Tuesday for the children of reporters who cover the White House. It was part of a day of activities the White House organized as it observed the annual Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day event.
The Republican president and his wife, first lady Melania Trump, also held separate events of their own.
One child asked Leavitt about Trump’s daily candy consumption. She characterized his intake as a “good amount” and added that “he likes pink Starburst and Tootsie Rolls.”
A few questions touched on administration policy, such as the state of the U.S.-Mexico border and what Trump is willing to do about climate change.
But even more questions were about his favorite foods and they led Leavitt to share that Trump also likes to eat a “big, beautiful steak,” ice cream sundaes with chocolate sauce and some toppings, and hamburgers and fries from McDonald’s.
She appeared to be stumped by a few of the inquiries, including about the president’s favorite soccer player and his favorite child. Trump has five adult children.
“That is a very controversial question and I’m not going to answer it,” Leavitt said after the laughter subsided. “I know he loves all of his children very much, and they’re all great kids.”
Earlier Tuesday, the first lady joined a few dozen children whose parents work in the Executive Office of the President in decorating wooden American flags.
She used a glue stick to attach two silver glittery stars to her red, white and blue flag after she took her seat at one of two tables in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden on the South Lawn. The first lady admired the children’s work and told several that their creations were “beautiful.”
The president visited Capitol Hill early Tuesday to rally House Republican lawmakers around a tax cuts and spending bill he wants Congress to pass. He’d been scheduled to have a public event with children on the South Lawn after he returned, but the White House later decided against press coverage.
An aide later shared on social media a clip of the president doing his dance in front of some children outside the south entrance to the Executive Mansion.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.