Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury secretary, during an announcement on Trump Accounts in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026.
Annabelle Gordon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Let them eat cheesecake?
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday became the latest right-wing critic to accuse former President Barack Obama of elitism for mockingly comparing President Donald Trump‘s ostentatious White House renovations to the Cheesecake Factory.
But Bessent, a former hedge fund manager whose net worth has been estimated at around $600 million, put his money where his mouth is — dining at the chain restaurant and praising its food before giving the Democratic ex-president a slice of his mind.
“This is the man who built the museum [that] looks like Darth Vader’s tomb,” Bessent told a Fox Business reporter who asked about Obama’s remark as he left the restaurant. Bessent was apparently referring to the Obama Presidential Center, a monolithic structure that opened in June.
“I had a great meal, always have a great meal, and I would just tell the Martha’s Vineyard set to give it a try,” Bessent said. Obama vacationed on Martha’s Vineyard as president, and he and his wife Michelle now own an estate on the exclusive island.
Bessent said he ordered “what I always have: the French Dip Cheeseburger.”
That’s a “Charbroiled Cheeseburger Served on a Toasted Brioche Roll with Grilled Onions, Sriracha Mayo and Au Jus for Dipping,” one of the “Glamburgers” on Cheesecake Factory’s famously sprawling menu. The burger, which comes with french fries or a green salad, currently costs $22.95 at the restaurant’s downtown Washington location.
The Cheesecake Factory is seen on May 02, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia.
Kayla Bartkowski | Getty Images
“I recommend the Cheeseburger Spring Rolls,” Bessent added in a follow-up post on X directed at Obama.
Bessent’s biting comment followed those of other Trump allies who claim Obama sneered at working-class Americans when he tore into Trump over his extensive White House construction and decoration projects.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he seems very focused on home renovations. He should be on HGTV!” Obama said of Trump during a speech at an Ohio rally for gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton and Senate candidate Sherrod Brown on Saturday.
“There’s gold everywhere. What’s up with the gold?” Obama went on. “He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.”
Former US President Barack Obama speaks during a midterm campaign rally as he campaigns alongside Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit, Michigan on Oct. 24, 2026.
Bill Pugliano | AFP | Getty Images
The crowd erupted in cheers and laughter at the remarks from Obama, who has previously poked fun at Trump’s gold-heavy remodel of the White House.
Since retaking office, Trump has devoted significant amounts of time to discussing his renovations, including in the Oval Office, which now features heaps of gold leaf among many additional decorations. He has also built a White House helipad, the still-under-construction White House ballroom and an array of other projects.
Trump on Monday afternoon defended his White House redesign at length while claiming Obama had failed to address needed repairs.
“We have to explain to Obama that the White House is a symbol of America, and it has to be maintained properly,” Trump said as he headed to Mississippi for a campaign rally. “Guys like Obama don’t see it. You don’t see dirt. He doesn’t see filth. He doesn’t see broken ornaments on a building.”
“It has to be clean,” Trump continued. “The columns can’t be broken. The bricks can’t be falling off from under the plaster. And for you to say it’s a cheesecake factory, that just shows why you were a lousy president.”
Detractors insisted Obama’s use of the Cheesecake Factory as an example of cheap, gaudy decor amounted to no less than class warfare.
“Classic Obama snobbery,” Republican commentator Matt Whitlock wrote on X. “Cheesecake Factory is a great option for people who can’t afford a private chef at their Martha’s Vineyard estate.”
GOP pundit Scott Jennings called Obama “undefeated at condescending to regular folks,” while claiming the former president “has never been in a Cheesecake Factory.”
That backlash quickly sparked its own backlash.
“This is actually a condescending view of working-class people,” wrote Derek Guy, a popular menswear influencer, on X.
“I grew up in a working-class immigrant family and we ate at Red Lobster and The Cheesecake Factory for ‘fancy nights out.’ 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 their limited means.”
The food fight is taking place just days before the Nov. 3 midterm election, where most polls and analyst projections indicate Democrats are poised to make significant gains in Congress.
The election cycle has been defined by Americans’ widespread unhappiness with high costs, which has dragged Trump’s approval ratings to new lows and imperiled Republicans’ majorities in the House and Senate.
The Cheesecake Factory is set to report its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday.
