President Donald Trump on Monday appeared incensed at his predecessor Barack Obama, who mocked him during a midterms rally Saturday for making the White House look “like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory,” and new reporting might explain why.
The Daily Beast on Thursday cited financial disclosures in reporting Trump purchased up to $175,000 worth of stock in the eatery last year, when he launched gaudy gold-themed redecorations of the Oval Office and development of his costly new White House ballroom.
Obama sent MAGA world into meltdown with a rather simple jibe at Trump’s vanity projects, telling a packed crowd in Cleveland during a Democratic rally in Ohio, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he seems very focused on home renovations.”
“And there’s gold everywhere!” Obama added. “What’s up with the gold? Everything, more gold! He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory. Just gold everywhere! So, he’s clearly not focused on lowering prices for you.”
Obama was campaigning for Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, whose GOP opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy, recently released an offensive attack ad involving her estranged mother. Many Republicans condemned the ad, while Trump can’t stop defending it.
The MAGA leader appeared more upset about Obama’s mention of The Cheesecake Factory.
Trump told reporters Monday that “only a stupid person” and “lousy president” would run the U.S. like Obama did, arguing during a Mississippi rally that the Cheesecake Factory is “a very successful business” before defending his extensive White House renovations.
“I would try and explain that to a guy like Obama, but he wouldn’t understand,” said Trump.
Trump ultimately purchased between $1,001 and $15,000 worth of shares in the casual-dining chain mere days after his return to office on three separate occasions in January and February 2025, according to the financial disclosures reviewed by The Daily Beast.
Trump again bought shares in March and April 2025 between $15,001 and $50,000, and another round between $1,001 and $15,000 in April 2025. He sold between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of shares that May and reportedly unloaded a similar amount last November.
Trump has frequently praised companies he has a financial stake in, including Nvidia.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told HuffPost in a statement Wednesday that all of Trump’s investments, including those of his immediate family members, are above board and “independently managed by third-party financial institutions.”
“Neither President Trump nor any member of his family has any ability to direct, influence, or provide input regarding how the portfolio is invested or when investments are bought or sold,” said Ingle. “All investment decisions are made entirely by independent managers.”
He continued, “There are no conflicts of interest.”
Trump has accumulated an enormous amount of wealth since returning to office in 2025. He has also frequently dismissed the nationwide affordability crisis, which has been severely exacerbated by his costly ongoing war on Iran, as a “con job” concocted by Democrats.
Trump reportedly still held up to $50,000 in Cheesecake Factory shares on Dec. 31, 2025.