--- title: Donald Trump Just Proposed A Very Unusual State Dinner description: Donald Trump has a new idea of how state dignitaries should be received at the White House: in conference rooms with fast food. canonical: https://time.com/4370332/donald-trump-white-house-state-dinner/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-15T18:20:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:03.111Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's Trump's Idea for a Very Unusual State Dinner og:description: Think: fast food. og:url: https://time.com/4370332/donald-trump-white-house-state-dinner/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38978e9fd70682ae/69889801a988ca49606b8427/donald-trump-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Atlanta og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Trump's Idea for a Very Unusual State Dinner twitter:description: Think: fast food. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38978e9fd70682ae/69889801a988ca49606b8427/donald-trump-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Donald Trump's Idea for a Very Unusual State Dinner > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jun 15, 2016 6:20 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at The Fox Theatre in Atlanta on June 15, 2016. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at The Fox Theatre in Atlanta on June 15, 2016. Branden Camp—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jun 15, 2016 6:20 PM UTC Donald Trump has a new idea of how state dignitaries should be received at the White House: in conference rooms with [fast food](http://fortune.com/2016/02/19/donald-trump-fast-food/). Speaking at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia on Wednesday, Trump said, “We give them [State Dinners](http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1940460,00.html?iid=sr-link1) like you’ve never seen,” referring to leaders from China and other nations. “We shouldn’t have dinners at all. We should be eating a hamburger on a conference table, and we should make better deals with China and others. And forget the State Dinners, that cost by the way, a fortune.” The presumptive Republican nominee also lamented the tents that are set up on the White House lawn for big events. “It’s a tent, which is actually unsafe, you know, canvas,” he said, before saying that tents “look like hell.” This is not the first time Trump has proposed changes to State Dinner traditions. He said he once [offered to build a new ballroom](http://time.com/4201841/donald-trump-iowa-white-house-ballroom/) at the White House, an anecdote he repeated today. “I will build you in the least conspicuous place, you know, it is the White House right?” he said. “We will build a great, great grand ballroom.” In January, David Axelrod, a former senior advisor to President Obama, confirmed to TIME that Trump had contacted the Obama Administration about the ballroom. “He did offer to build one,” Axelrod said in an email. “I don’t recall him saying he would pay for it. 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