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A key Cabinet official in the Trump administration on Monday hit back at former President Barack Obama’s criticisms of White House renovations by having lunch at the restaurant that was caught up in the ex-president’s critique.
Obama spoke at a rally in Ohio on Saturday while campaigning for Democratic candidates and slammed President Donald Trump’s renovations at the White House. He said that Trump “seems very focused on home renovations” and “should be on HGTV.”
“He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory,” Obama quipped after discussing Trump’s affinity for gold décor in the various projects underway at the White House, including the new ballroom, changes to the Rose Garden and a new helipad.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent responded by going to a Cheesecake Factory in Washington, D.C., for lunch and hit back at the former president’s remarks with a criticism of the design of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
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“This is the man who built the museum and it looks like Darth Vader’s tomb,” Bessent said. “I had a great meal. I always have a great meal, and I would tell the Martha’s Vineyard set to give it a try.”
Bessent was asked by FOX Business what he had for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and said he ordered a French dip cheeseburger, which is his typical order at the restaurant chain.
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The Treasury secretary’s critique of the Obama Presidential Center’s design comes as the building has been dubbed the “Obamalisk” by some over the 225-foot, granite-clad tower’s appearance.
The projected price tag of the Obama Presidential Center has surged from its original estimate of $350 million to more than $1 billion, according to previous reporting by Fox News Digital.
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Additionally, taxpayers have faced hundreds of millions of dollars in associated public infrastructure costs that are separate from the Obama center’s construction budget.
Bessent has been a staunch defender of the Trump administration’s agenda and has taken rhetorical shots at critics, recently responding to a letter from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., by telling her that “Rather than take my suggestion of studying introductory economics, you have continued your letter-writing crusade and participation in tabloid fodder about the Treasury Department.”
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Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
