It appears that US President Joe Biden has removed the 'Diet Coke' button installed on the presidential desk by his predecessor Donald Trump, who was devoted to the soda drink.
The device installed at the Resolute Desk wasn't visible in photos of Biden captured Thursday at the White House.
Biden's Oval Office features framed photos of the family behind the Resolute Desk, beside a bust of Cesar Chavez, a Latin American workers rights activist, according to NZ Herald.
"President Biden has removed the Diet Coke button. When @ShippersUnbound (Tim Shipman) and I interviewed Donald Trump in 2019, we became fascinated by what the little red button did. Eventually, Trump pressed it, and a butler swiftly brought in a Diet Coke on a silver platter. It's gone now," tweeted journalist Tom Newton Dunn.
The Hill reported that Trump, a soda devotee, reportedly had the button put in place on the Resolute Desk in order to "keep the carbonated beverages flowing". When pressed, a staffer would be summoned to provide the drink to the thirsty commander in chief.
Trump would regularly consume 12 cans of Diet Coke a day, as per media reports.Ex-White House aide Chris Sims wrote in his 2019 book "Team of Vipers" that Trump would also use the red button as a way of pranking visitors by suggesting it could trigger nuclear capabilities, cited by The Hill.
"Out of nowhere, he'd suddenly press the button," Sims wrote of the former president.
He added, "Not sure what to do, guests would look at one another with raised eyebrows. Moments later, a steward would enter the room carrying a glass filled with Diet Coke on a silver platter, and Trump would burst out laughing."
Even though Biden may have gotten rid of the soft drink buzzer, he, according to reports, also has 'a similar taste in beverages'.
( With inputs from ANI )
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