What former White House chef Andre Rush has said about Trump's work ethic, demeanor

In one interview published by a credible source, Rush said about Trump, "He's a worker. He's up all night." In another interview Rush said Trump "does try to eat healthy, but people don't get to see that part of it. They just see the part that we want to show on social media." Tabloid news outlet TMZ paraphrased a comment it ascribed to Rush as, "Trump was always friendly and complimentary to the staff," but didn't present it as a direct quote. We have reached out to Rush for confirmation and will update this story accordingly. In late August and early September 2026, numerous Facebook posts purported to quote Andre Rush, a former White House chef, praising U.S. President Donald Trump for his work ethic, healthy diet and friendliness to the White House staff. Snopes readers sent us examples of the post in which three separated quotes were attributed to Rush. Below are the various sections of the post the alleged Rush quotes in bold (emphasis ours): Chef Andre Rush. Nearly 20 years working inside the White House kitchen. Four Presidents. Clinton. Bush. Obama. Trump. A man who observed all of them from extremely close range — not from a press conference, not from a campaign rally — but from the most personal place imaginable. Their kitchen. Because you can say anything in a speech. You can put on a performance at a rally. You can create an image for the cameras. But inside a kitchen — at unusual hours — when food is being prepared and nobody important is paying attention — that is where the real person can reveal themselves. And here is what Chef Rush reportedly revealed — something the media reduced to one sentence before moving on. When he was asked which President was the most difficult to cook for — he said Trump. But not for the reason you might expect. "He's a worker. He's up all night. It wasn't a lot of morning breakfast." Up all night. The kitchen was prepared. The meals were ready. And Trump simply wasn't there to eat them. Because he was working. […] The chef could never predict when Trump would walk through that kitchen. Because Trump's schedule wasn't organized around meals. It was organized around America. And when Trump DID come through the kitchen? "Always friendly. Always complimentary to the staff." Not once — during all those years — did Trump make the kitchen staff feel unimportant. Never a cruel word. Never an unreasonable demand. Never the kind of behavior powerful people sometimes display when they believe nobody significant is watching. […] And then Rush said the part that completely broke me. "He does try to eat healthy. People don't get to see that part. They just see what we want to show on social media." For years, the media showed you Trump eating McDonald's. The Diet Coke. Image after image that could make him appear careless. But his own chef — the man who actually prepared his food — said publicly that Trump tries. That the real picture is different from what people see online. Although placed in a highly embellished context above, two of the highlighted quotes about Rush's experience working in Trump's White House were taken from credible published sources. The alleged quote about Trump's friendliness was actually a paraphrase of remarks attributed to Rush by TMZ, a tabloid news outlet. Snopes reached out to Rush via Instagram to confirm these quotes and will update this story accordingly. Until then, we rate this claim a mixture of true and undetermined information. Other parts of the post are elaborate descriptions that may or may not have derived from things Rush actually said. For example, we have not found evidence that Rush said, "Not once — during all those years — did Trump make the kitchen staff feel unimportant." Nor did we find proof that Rush said Trump never said a "cruel word" or made an "unreasonable demand." Rush worked as a chef at the White House for nearly 20 years, cooking for former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as well as during the first Trump administration. In a 2021 interview with Mashed, a cooking and food service publication, he spoke about Trump's meal habits: He's a worker. He's up all night. It wasn't a lot of morning breakfast. Actually, all of them [the presidents], it was very different in comparison. Food wasn't a high priority, when I say that, I mean on the administration side of it — on that administration side of it for his term. Nothing's wrong with that if you know what he ate and how he ate during the day, which has been all over from the burgers to everything overcooked or taco salads. … I would have to say burgers would be the number one if I had to put [it] into perspective, as he'd call it the American food. In a 2024 interview with Politico, Rush described Trump's eating habits: He gets so much flack about the unhealthy side of him. He does try to eat healthy, but people don't get to see that part of it. They just see the part that we want to show on social media. I mean, Bill Clinton ate just as many burgers as Donald Trump did. In a 2024 interview with TMZ, Rush allegedly said Trump was always friendly and complimentary with the staff. However, TMZ did not directly quote Rush and appears to have paraphrased his words: Rush made sure to note Trump was always friendly and complimentary to the kitchen staff … which the chef is sure will continue — even if the cooks have to covertly slip veggies into his meals. Snopes has previously reported on rumors about Trump's diet and health, including the claim that he uses a button in his office to order Diet Cokes.