The Radical Reading Room

President Donald Trump joked that supporters might struggle to afford a meal at Mar-a-Lago, his private club, during remarks to a crowd on Tuesday. He described the club as a poor choice for people watching their spending. The Independent reported the comments as a joke about his own supporters’ ability to pay; The Daily Beast also described Trump laughing as he discussed the club’s prices.

The remarks came amid a political dispute over Barack Obama’s joke about the Cheesecake Factory. Both reports said Obama invoked the restaurant while criticizing Trump’s White House renovations. Republicans and Trump allies criticized Obama’s comment as elitist or out of touch, according to the accounts.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was among those who responded to the controversy by eating at a Cheesecake Factory location in Washington, D.C. Both outlets reported that he praised the meal and encouraged others to try the chain. The Daily Beast also reported that a former Republican congressman posted a photograph of himself outside a restaurant.

Trump’s comments brought the dispute over who is out of touch with ordinary diners into sharper focus: Republicans had attacked Obama’s restaurant joke, while Trump was joking that his own club’s prices could put a meal beyond supporters’ reach. Neither report documents a response from Republican critics specifically addressing Trump’s remarks.