5 Wildest Details From Expose on Trump’s D.C. Restaurant — From Custom Jumbo Steaks, to the 7-Step Process to Pour His Diet Coke

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The Washingtonian is out with an incredible report on what it was like to work at the Trump International Hotel, which was the cultural center for the Washington D.C. MAGA crowd during Donald Trump’s four years as president.

The piece, by Washingtonian food editor Jessica Sidman, goes in-depth on what it was like to work at the Trump Hotel, and serve the VIPs that came to dine in its restaurant, BLT Prime. Guests included MAGA figures ranging from Matt Gaetz to Rudy Giuliani, Steve Mnuchin to Ivanka Trump, and even the president himself, who had a standing table (74) and an extensive SOP document — outlining how he was to be served — that was akin to a “pop star’s rider.”

The piece is worth a read in full — but check out some of the wildest details from it below.

The pour of Trump’s Diet Coke was a seven-step process

The directives for a visit from the president himself were extensive. They required that a bottle of hand sanitizer be presented (even before the pandemic) and a Diet Coke immediately offered. That process was a considerable undertaking:

Directions for pouring the soda were detailed in a process no fewer than seven steps long—and illustrated with four photo exhibits. The beverage had to be opened in front of the germophobe commander in chief, “never beforehand.” The server was to hold a longneck-bottle opener by the lower third of the handle in one hand and the Diet Coke, also by the lower third, in the other. Once poured, the drink had to be placed at the President’s right-hand side. “Repeat until POTUS departs.”

Trump gets served enormous steaks (well done) because once his guest’s was larger

Trump’s affinity for well-done steaks is well-known. One revelation from the Washingtonian report is that he was only served the biggest cuts, after once being served a smaller steak than his guest. While Trump never sent a plate back, this particular complaint prompted the kitchen to ensure he was never served am insufficiently sized piece of meat again.

“The chef had always prepared a bone-in rib eye or filet mignon for Trump. After Steakgate, he switched to a 40-ounce tomahawk. Trump would never again gripe that he didn’t have the greatest, hugest, most beautiful steak,” the Washingtonian reported.

Steak aside, Trump always ordered the same thing:

Trump always had the same thing: shrimp cocktail, well-done steak, and fries (plus sometimes apple pie or chocolate cake for dessert). Popovers—make it a double for the President—had to be served within two minutes and the crustaceans “immediately.” The manual instructed the server to open mini glass bottles of Heinz ketchup in front of Trump, taking care to ensure he could hear the seal make the “pop” sound.

Arthur Schwartz’s $10,000 suit paired poorly with steak sauce

Arthur Schwartz, an aggressive Republican strategist who worked for Donald Trump Jr., once got drenched in steak sauce by an unfortunate busser whose apron got snagged on a door.

Schwartz reportedly pulled a Gob Bluth in response.

“[Schwartz] came and cussed me out for a solid five, ten minutes, talking about how he was wearing a $10,000 suit,” the general manager told the Washingtonian. “The hotel did pay for all the cleaning.”

The restaurant served as Giuliani’s office

The Washingtonian described Rudy Giuliani, who was Trump’s personal lawyer for years and has been known to indulge in the occasional daytime drink, as “the most notorious VIP” of BLT Prime.

He “had a regular table in the restaurant’s downstairs dining area,” which a chef described to the Washingtonian as “pretty much his office.”

Per the Washingtonian, someone actually made a gaudy plague that read: “RUDOLPH W. GIULIANI PRIVATE OFFICE” which was placed on his table by staff whenever he showed up. He was apparently a giant pain.

The place paid. Well.

While the staff of the hotel and restaurant had to deal with all the pitfalls associated with working at a Trump property, the Washingtonian reports that the place actually paid pretty well.

This may come as a surprise, given Trump’s notorious stinginess, but the place provided good benefits and serious tips:

Michel Rivera, a former bartender at the lobby bar, says he pulled in more than $100,000 a year with tips (at least $30K more than he made at the Hay-Adams). He says it’s the best-paying job he’s had in his 25-year career, with generous health benefits to boot—a comment echoed by many other ex-employees.

“People would literally come up to me and give me $100 bills and be like, ‘You must be the best bartender in the world if you work here!’ ” Rivera says. “A group of three or four guys would come up, have a round of drinks—I could easily sell them over $1,000. You don’t see that at too many bars.”

Read the full report here.