Trump’s Diet Coke button: what was the former president’s legendary drinks button - and has Joe Biden removed it?

The button was in the Oval Office in the White House

Donald Trump when he was president, pictured with the button on the wooden box (Getty Images)

The Oval Office is undoubtedly the most important room in the White House, as it’s the place where the president spends most of their working time.

The space is synonymous with power, so it’s no surprise that incoming presidents traditionally change the layout and decoration of it to reflect their administration.

It has emerged that Donald Trump had an unusual feature in the Oval Office during his time as president - a Diet Coke button.

Now that Joe Biden has taken up the most powerful seat in America, it appears like he has arranged for the button to be removed, alongside a host of other changes to the office.

So, what was Trump’s drinks button, what happened when he pressed it - and has Joe Biden really got rid of it?

Here’s everything you need to know.

President Biden, pictured on his first day in the White House, with no button on the desk (Getty Images)

What was Donald Trump’s Diet Coke button?

When he was president, Trump used the legendary button to request a fresh Diet Coke whenever he wanted one.

According to reports, once the button was pressed, a glass filled with the fizzy drink would arrive in the Oval Office on a silver platter carried by a steward.

White House insiders revealed during Trump’s term that he consumed up to 12 cans of Diet Coke a day.

Further reports have said Trump enjoyed leading on his visitors that assumed the conspicuous button on his desk had links to the country’s nuclear weapons.

He would suddenly press it, and when the staff member arrived with the drink the former president would burst out laughing.

Sharing insider secrets about the button, former White House aide Chris Sims wrote in his book Team of Vipers: “Out of nowhere, he’d suddenly press the button.

“Not sure what to do, guests would look at one another with raised eyebrows. Moments later, a steward would enter the room carrying a glass filled with Diet Coke on a silver platter, and Trump would burst out laughing.”

A Financial Times reporter also questioned Trump about the mysterious device when interviewing him.

The journalist wrote that he noticed “a little red button on a box” on the president’s desk, and asked him if it was the nuclear button.

He claimed Trump responded: “No, no, everyone thinks it is. Everyone does get a little nervous when I press that button."

The button was reportedly used by past presidents for other needs.

Has Joe Biden removed the button?

There is speculation that, now he has moved into the Oval Office, new president Joe Biden has removed the famous Diet Coke button.

It was kept on the Resolute desk beside Trump and was frequently shown in pictures taken within the room.

However, when President Biden’s newly-decorated office was photographed on his first full day in the White House as he signed his executive orders, the button was nowhere to be seen.

Political commentator Tom Newton Dunn alerted his followers to the absence of the device when he tweeted: “President Biden has removed the Diet Coke button.

“When @ShippersUnbound and I interviewed Donald Trump in 2019, we became fascinated by what the little red button did.

“Eventually Trump pressed it, and a butler swiftly brought in a Diet Coke on a silver platter. It’s gone now.”

Instead, pictures of Mr Biden’s desk showed two phones, a coffee cup, and the traditional set of president’s pens.

But the button’s apparent removal was not because he doesn’t like fizzy drinks, as Mr Biden is a fan of Coke Zero, according to the Washington Post.

A spokesperson said: “The Oval Office is the President’s private office, and it’s up to the President to decorate it as he wishes.”

What other changes has Joe Biden made to the office?

President Biden has not hesitated to change up the Oval Office since he moved into the White House after his inauguration on 20 January.

As well as seemingly removing the Diet Coke caller, he has changed the carpet to a darker blue - but has chosen to keep the same curtains that hung during Trump’s presidency.

A few past political figures of note have been drafted in, including a bust of Cesar Chavez, the civil rights activist and Labour leader, Harry Truman, Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt and Robert F Kennedy.

Mr Biden has chosen to have the bust of Winston Churchill, present during the Trump era, removed.

There is also a painting of Benjamin Franklin, a founding father, which hangs near a bookshelf that has a piece of moon rock on it, a portrait of Franklin D Roosevelt and other paintings of former president Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Biden has removed the portrait of Andrew Jackson, the seventh president, whose white nationalist views influenced Trump’s policies.

On the Resolute desk, there’s multiple pens used to sign executive orders, which are often given by the president to key individuals as souvenirs.

Finally, Mr Biden has added a personal touch with some family photos, including one of his late son Beau Biden.

There’s also pictures of the president’s mother, Catherine Eugenia Finnegan, the first lady, Dr Jill Biden, and their three children.