Being President of the United States of America or the First Lady involves a lot of travel, from foreign state visits to global summits and even the occasional holiday. We look at some of their most famous and unusual food experiences around the world.

President George Bush surprised American troops serving in Baghdad in 2003 by flying over on Air Force One for Thanksgiving Day dinner. The morale-boosting secret mission was so confidential even his wife Laura was kept in the dark until the very last moment. Dining alongside 600 service men and women in an airplane hanger, George tucked into turkey with all the trimmings and pecan pie, made with nuts from his own ranch.

Determined to make a good impression during a diplomatic trip to China in 1972, President Richard Nixon reportedly spent weeks practising with chopsticks and studying the nation’s dining etiquette. His hard work paid off during an epic four-hour banquet with Premier Chou En-lai. Nixon successfully worked his way through Peking duck, dumplings, fried rice and shark fins. But, he was warned to go easy on the Maotai, a Chinese spirit that's 50% alcohol.

George Washington set sail for Barbados as a young man in 1751, long before he became president, with a diary he kept of the voyage giving an idea of what he experienced. At the house he lived in for his six weeks on the island, today you can even sit down to a five-course, candle-lit supper hosted by actors. Dishes reflect the food he would have eaten at the time: local specialities such as yam pie and eddo soup (made from a starchy vegetable similar to potato).

 

 

Donald Trump famously dislikes travelling abroad. In fact, he's the first President since Jimmy Carter not to have visited another country in his first 100 days in office. His hosts in Saudi Arabia were keen to make his first foreign tour as comfortable as possible, even serving his favourite steak – well-done, of course – with lashings of ketchup.

Eating sushi might be a must-try for many tourists in Japan. But when President Donald Trump visited the country last year, he famously chose to eat (you guessed it) steak. Spurning local delicacies, during dinner at a teppanyaki restaurant with the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Trump tucked into a special menu of scallops, steak and a chocolate sundae.

During the same trip, Trump famously scoffed an Angus beef burger during lunch with the Prime Minister in Tokyo. Ordered from the popular fast-food chain Munch’s Burger Shack, the lunch was served with ketchup and American mustard at Kasumigaseki Country Club before the pair played a round of golf.

A hotdog stand in Iceland attracted worldwide attention after Bill Clinton paid an impromptu visit in 2004. Owner of Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur kiosk, Guðrún Kristmundsdóttir told reporters: 'He was walking by and I recognised him immediately, so I shouted 'best hotdogs in the world!' at him. He came over with a big smile on his face and said he would have to try one’.

Bill Clinton first dined at the upscale restaurant Bukharam in New Dehli, India, around 18 years ago – and customers are still ordering the ‘Presidential platter’. The special sampler of minced lamb and chicken tandoori, lentils and oven-baked bread was said to be such a hit with the former President, he returned to the restaurant a further three times to order it.

Since undergoing a quadruple heart bypass in 2004, Bill Clinton was advised by doctors to follow a mostly vegan diet, which he’s credited with saving his life. But, he admits he’s not 100% strict and has been known to fall off the wagon while abroad. After the life-saving operation, the former President was spotted eating filet mignon during dinner with King Juan Carlos of Spain at Casa Lucio in Madrid.

Vomiting on the Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa during a state banquet in 1992 was a diplomatic incident George H.W. Bush likely wanted to forget, especially in a country famed for its polite manners and exquisite table etiquette. The President had been lunching on raw salmon with caviar and beef in pepper sauce before he became violently ill at the table. His aids blamed exhaustion as he'd beaten the Japanese Emperor at tennis that day and travelled through 16 times zones in the previous 10 days.

French cuisine is often heralded as the finest in the world and French President François Hollande ensured Barack Obama sampled only the best when he visited the three-Michelin-starred restaurant, L’Ambroisie. President Obama enjoyed a gastronomic feast of wild fish from Brittany, roquefort, brie and chocolate cake, washed down with wine from Bordeaux. The meal was enjoyed after a day of climate talks in 2015, and leaders came under fire as it was revealed the dinner would have created 400 tons of carbon.

The former President’s foreign dinners aren’t always so decadent. While visiting Vietnam, Obama shared a $6 dinner with chef and CNN presenter Antony Bourdain in a casual Hanoi noodle bar. The pair enjoyed a bun cha feast of grilled pork noodles and cold beer as they discussed the politician’s trip, filmed for the TV show Parts Unknown. Bourdain later shared this picture and tweeted, ‘I picked up the check.’

Barack Obama raised a few eyebrows when he was photographed drinking beer at 11am with Chancellor Angela Merkel during a traditional Frühschoppen breakfast in Germany. The pair had been visiting locals in the small village of Krün during the 2015 G7 summit. Rest assured the President kept a clear head after all, as a White House spokesperson later revealed it was a non-alcoholic beer.

Presidents Barack Obama and George Bush, along with many others, have attended state dinners at Buckingham Palace with Queen Elizabeth. These lavish events usually include fish and meat courses served on the palace's silver dinner service and a pudding prepared by the Royal pastry chef. Guests are offered five different wines, plus champagne, and the meal is rounded off by twelve pipers who parade around the room playing music, a custom initiated by Queen Victoria.

We had to include First Lady Michelle Obama’s unusual request at Buckingham Place. While discussing her top ‘oh my god’ moments on the Late Show, the healthy-eating advocate told Stephen Colbert she’d ordered French fries during an informal meeting with The Queen. “They were good – they were some good fries at the palace”, she said.

During his role as American minister for France in the late 1700s, President Thomas Jefferson developed a fondness for many European foods. He even brought back several recipes for cooking blood sausage, pigs’ feet, rabbit and pigeon and had them served to guests in his home.

Thomas Jefferson is also widely credited with bringing macaroni to the United States. In fact, he was so taken with the twisted pasta shapes he’d eaten while working in Europe, he drew up plans to make a machine (pictured) to recreate them at home.

Thomas Jefferson didn’t just like to invent gadgets, he also liked to buy cooking novelties while abroad. During a trip to Amsterdam, he was so impressed with the local waffles he brought four waffle irons back to the United States. This is thought to have kickstarted their popularity across the country.

John F. Kennedy’s ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ speech in Berlin in 1963 caused much amusement among locals, when he told them: ‘I am a jam doughnut’. To be fair, he was actually saying, ‘I am a Berliner’, but the statement could be interpreted both ways. As they say, you are what you eat – perhaps the President had been enjoying some of the local specialities beforehand.

First Lady Jackie Kennedy loved everything French. Not only did she speak the language, but she loved the fashion, art and, of course, the food, and encouraged husband John to try the local cuisine during their trips to Paris. The pair even employed French chef René Verdon at the White House, who was known to serve poached salmon, racks of lamb and haricots verts aux amandes (green beans with almonds), which may have been inspired by their visits. 

 

JFK’s taste buds weren’t always quite so sophisticated. In a letter to Dorothy Macmillan, wife of British Prime Minister Harold in 1963 about meals for their upcoming visit, Jackie advised: 'Just do whatever you would do in your own home. His tastes are distressingly normal—plain food—children’s food—good food—he likes anything.' Let’s hope Mrs Macmillan, a famously bad cook, didn’t prepare rabbit stew, which according to legend she once served with the head still attached.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower visited the UK for an informal visit in 1959, where he also met with Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and Queen Elizabeth. It seems the sweet-toothed leader took quite a liking to English rice pudding, as it was later included on a list compiled by White House staff detailing his favourite desserts.