President Trump seems to think that a sugar rush is all he needs to head off the civil war engulfing his base over the Jeffrey Epstein debacle.
Days after he longingly wondered what was going on with his “‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals,‘” the long-time Diet Coke aficionado announced on Wednesday that Coca-Cola had agreed to use real sugar in its drinks made within the U.S.
“I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Wednesday. “I’d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola. This will be a very good move by them — You’ll see. It’s just better!”
Coca-Cola made with real cane sugar, or “white sugar” is a popular preference to the high fructose corn-syrup based version that is more common in the U.S.
However, what Trump neglected to mention in his post is that the country most closely associated with the tastier Coke is one of his most frequent scapegoats: Mexico. “Mexican Coke” is made with real sugar, a distinction which has been maintained by an ongoing trade war over sugar between the U.S. and Mexico that predates Trump’s tariff tantrums.
If Trump hoped that the momentary sugar high would distract from the recent Epstein files backlash, he seemed to be mistaken. California Governor Gavin Newsom was among those mocking the president’s announcement.
Oh thank god! I’ve totally forgotten about the Epstein files now! pic.twitter.com/Rf0ibTAwY1
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 16, 2025
Meanwhile, replacing corn syrup with cane sugar will probably not make Coke much healthier. Michael Jacobson, a food activist who successfully lobbied the government to make nutrition labels mandatory, has said that the notion that high-fructose corn syrup is especially toxic is an “urban myth.”
Trump, himself, is unlikely to benefit from the improved flavor profile of cane sugar Coke: the president already has a “Diet Coke button” installed on the Oval Office’s Resolute desk. Diet Coke contains no sugar.
The post Trump Tries to Distract Base From Epstein Disaster With Mexican Coke appeared first on The Daily Beast.
