--- ---  # The Internet Had Some Thoughts on President Trump's Chocolate Cake Conversation by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Apr 12, 2017 5:35 PM UTC  President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida, on April 6, 2017. President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida, on April 6, 2017.Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Apr 12, 2017 5:35 PM UTC President Trump told China’s President about the [Syrian aistrike decision](http://time.com/4735470/donald-trump-syria-war-bashar-al-assad/) over [chocolate cake](http://time.com/4736610/trump-chocolate-cake-jinping-syria/), and it’s lighting up the internet. In an [interview on Fox Business Network](http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/04/11/president-trump-interview-mornings-maria-bartiromo-fox-business-network) on Wednesday, Trump told Maria Bartiromo that the world leaders were eating the “most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you’ve ever seen” when he notified President Xi Jinping that the [airstrikes in Syria](http://time.com/4734265/what-will-president-trump-do-about-syria/) would start. Trump added that President Xi was “enjoying it,” when Trump received the message from generals at this formal dinner he hosted at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. Trump told Xi he approved of the airstrikes because Syrian president Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons against his own people. The intersection of politics and food — two online obsessions — led to a predictable swarm of reactions. See some of the reactions below. > [](https://twitter.com/jonathanchait/status/852191149095878656) > [](https://twitter.com/slimthig69/status/852017792631033856) > [](https://twitter.com/oureric/status/852185999564304385) > [](https://twitter.com/KeithOlbermann/status/852196706913529856) > [](https://twitter.com/johniadarola/status/852195772598824960) > [](https://twitter.com/igorbobic/status/852192765052157959) > [](https://twitter.com/robdelaney/status/852174164416921600) > [](https://twitter.com/usapolitic2/status/852201787884838914) > [](https://twitter.com/drewharwell/status/852149997105709056) Donald Trump Chocolate Cake: Internet Reactions ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4736600/trump-cake-syria-reactions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4736600/trump-cake-syria-reactions/"},"headline":"The Internet Had Some Thoughts on President Trump's Chocolate Cake Conversation","datePublished":"2017-04-12T17:35:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:42:45.189Z","description":"The internet mocked President Donald Trump for discussing Syria with the Chinese president over chocolate cake.","url":"https://time.com/4736600/trump-cake-syria-reactions/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics","White House","China","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1fbf15b66ced8fe/6988c2658e06010443469e69/gettyimages-665457970.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1fbf15b66ced8fe/6988c2658e06010443469e69/gettyimages-665457970.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TOPSHOT-US-CHINA-DIPLOMACY-TRUMP-XI","caption":"TOPSHOT-US-CHINA-DIPLOMACY-TRUMP-XI","creditText":"Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4736600/trump-cake-syria-reactions/","name":"The Internet Had Some Thoughts on President Trump's Chocolate Cake Conversation"}}]}] ```