WASHINGTON: After living in Washington for nearly a year, President Donald Trump has yet to enjoy a single non-working meal at a restaurant that doesn’t pay him rent. He hasn’t taken in a performance at the Kennedy Centre; hasn’t been to a sporting event; hasn’t toured most of the sights.

It’s one of the peculiarities of the Trump presidency and one of a long list of ways in which he’s changing the office, as well as its relationship with the District of Columbia.

“I would say that Trump has been the least present of any of the most recent presidents,” said Phil Mendelson, chairman of the Washington, D.C., City Council and a Democratic member of the council since 1999.

It’s not just restaurants, says Mendelson. Trump has been less engaged on the local charity circuit than other recent presidents, with no stops at local food banks or to help elementary school reading drives. First lady Melania Trump has been venturing out more often, appearing with Jordan’s Queen Rania at a girls’ charter school, attending a holiday toy drive sponsored by the military and visiting with patients and staff at Children’s National hospital.

But the homebody president rarely goes out and when he does it’s almost always to properties that bear his name.

Trump has spent at least part of more than 100 days of his presidency at properties he owns taking winter weekends at his private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and summer weekends in Bedminster, New Jersey, or at his Virginia golf club.

Those weekends that he does spend in Washington, Trump has dined at just one restaurant: BLT Prime in the Trump International Hotel, which opened last year just a few blocks from the White House. Trump’s visits have thrilled the tourists who flock to the hotel, building buzz and earning revenue. But most often, Trump, who is known to prefer well-done steaks with ketchup to snootier fare, chooses to eat in.

“I love the food in the White House. The White House is the greatest restaurant, it’s the most beautiful,” he told the Larry O’Connor radio show last month. “They do such a beautiful job.” Trump took office as arguably the most prepared of recent presidents for the constraints of living and working in the White House and its Secret Service-enforced security bubble, having spent decades ensconced at Trump Tower in New York.

“The reason my hair looks so neat all the time is because I don’t have to deal with the elements. I live in the building where I work. I take an elevator from my bedroom to my office. The rest of the time, I’m either in my stretch limousine, my private jet, my helicopter, or my private club in Palm Beach Florida,” he once wrote.

Not much has changed though the house, plane and helicopter are now taxpayer-paid.

Trump’s homebody ways mark a dramatic shift from his predecessor, who relished the renaissance in the D.C. dining scene. President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama emb­ra­ced Washington, sampling its hottest restaurants, from high-end to low brow, and providing coveted buzz to eateries like celebrity chef Jos Andrs’ small plates restaurant Oyamel Cocina Mexicana and Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack.

During the 2014 government shutdown, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden made a run to Taylor Gourmet sandwich shop, which was offering discounts for government workers. And when it was time to signal an atte­m­pted reset in relations with Russia, Obama treated Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to a burgers and fries in nearby Arlington, Virginia. Even before Obama’s inauguration, then-Mayor Adrian Fenty welcomed him to the city with lunch at the Ben’s Chili Bowl.

“It is actually tragic that the current administration hasn’t taken the time yet to go out to the different restaurants to see how vibrant and delicious the current dining scene in D.C. actually is,” said Nycci Safier Nellis, publisher of TheListAreYouOnIt.com, which tracks the local food scene.—AP

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2017