Joe Biden Already Revamped the Oval Office—and Got Rid of Donald Trump's Diet Coke Button

Olivia Harvey
·4 min read
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Joe Biden
Joe Biden
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Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post, Getty Images

On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed more than a dozen executive actions including an improved response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a rollback on Trump-era immigration restrictions, and improvements to the U.S.'s involvement in climate-related initiatives. But before he put pen to paper, President Biden had to rid the Oval Office of one Trumpian item that is still hard to comprehend as real. Biden ditched former President Donald Trump's "Diet Coke button" which, quite literally, made a Diet Coke appear on a silver platter when pushed.

The button, housed in a very official-looking wooden case, was installed in the first few days of Trump's presidency in order for the president to quell his cravings for Diet Coke, which he reportedly drank 12 cans of per day, according to The New York Times.

In a 2017 interview for Face the Nation, Trump showed his "ominous red button" to reporter John Dickerson, explaining that when pressed, "It gets you a Coke. It gets you a Pepsi. One or the other," to which Dickerson responded, "Oh."

Tom Newton Dunn, a reporter for Times Radio, was the first to notice that Biden had kicked the Diet Coke button to the curb on his first day. "President Biden has removed the Diet Coke button," Newton Dunn wrote on Twitter. "It's gone now."

Perhaps it was the insurrection or the two impeachments that pushed the Diet Coke button from our brains. But now that it's fresh in our minds again, we're really wilding out over the absurdity.

And we can only imagine President Biden's face when he was asked if he'd like the Diet Coke button to stay or go.

But if you really think about it...is a Diet Coke button really such a bad idea?

As some people on Twitter pointed out, this wooden-encased red button has appeared on the desk of several presidents throughout the years, meaning that it's most likely a call button for staff.

But sadly (or maybe hilariously?), thanks to Trump, it will now and forever be known as the Diet Coke button. Even after he's gone, he still manages to leave us astounded...