Donald Trump has been applying his negotiating skills to get sugar back in U.S.-produced Coke, the president wrote on his Truth Social site Wednesday.
If his intervention pans out, soon Americans could be swigging something that tastes much more like Mexican Coke.
Trump famously installed a red button on his desk that allows him to quickly summon a Diet Coke, his favorite drink.
Trump championed the recipe change as a ‘good move’ by the Coca-Cola Company, which was founded in 1892.
‘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.
‘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!’
The company moved away from using sugar in Coke during the 1980s, switching to cheaper high fructose corn syrup.
President Donald Trump said he spoke to Coca-Cola executives and announced the company was moving its formula to cane sugar from corn syrup
It is the second ingredient after carbonated water in a can or bottle of Coke, according to the company.
There are debates about which tastes better, but some prefer the taste of the original – as evidenced by the import of Mexican Coke into the U.S.
Mexico continued to use sugar in its plants for a number of years, and some Mexican migrants and others across the border prefer that flavor, which prompted an import regimen.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Coca-Cola about any change in its manufacturing or recipe and any other agreements the company reached with the president.
Company CEO James Quincey has told investors that ‘we continue to make progress on sugar reduction in our beverages,’ as Axios noted.
He said it had done so ‘by changing recipes as well as by using our global marketing resources and distribution network to boost awareness of and interest in our ever-expanding portfolio.’
Trump posted about the Coke recipe on his Truth Social site
It is unclear how the shift will play out in the new highly volatile tariff environment.
Trump has announced a 50 percent tariff on Brazil, one leading sugar producers. Other producers have negotiated prior free trade agreements with the U.S. but now face a 10 percent baseline tariff. Florida has its own heavily subsidized sugar industry sometimes called ‘Big Sugar’ by critics for its political influence.
U.S. sugar companies currently get subsidies totalling $4 billion per year. That makes the price in the U.S. about double the global price.
Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy has called sugar ‘as addictive as crack.’
‘It’s hurting them and it’s addicting them and it’s changing their taste buds so that they crave it,’ he said.
He declared in April that ‘sugar is poison, and Americans need to know that it’s poison.’ He has also crusaded to eliminate certain dies from foods.
