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Room service: Trump takes burger break before APEC meetings

Published: 30 Oct. 2025, 15:04 Updated: 30 Oct. 2025, 19:13

U.S. President Donald Trump poses for a photo with Hilton Hotel staff after attending a special state dinner in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, on Oct. 29. [YONHAP]

The Korea-U. S. summit dinner may have dazzled with fusion delicacies, but President Donald Trump’s palate proved as loyal as ever to American comfort food.

Shortly after checking into the Hilton Hotel in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, on Wednesday afternoon, Trump reportedly ordered a cheeseburger through room service — extra American cheese, plenty of ketchup, no Coke. “He finished everything — the burger, the fries and the ketchup — and looked very satisfied,” a hotel employee said Thursday.

Trump arrived at his suite on the eighth floor around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and promptly ordered through room service, according to hotel staff on Thursday.

After a two-hour rest, Trump then attended a special state dinner hosted by President Lee in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom.

During the dinner, Trump reportedly said the food tasted “wonderful” and even suggested taking commemorative photos with hotel staff before leaving the banquet hall.

The summit dinner menu featured a Western-style fine dining course that included Gyeongju Cheonnyeon hanwoo (Korean beef) sirloin, Namsan pine mushrooms, flounder from Guryongpo, Yeongwol black chicken and truffle dumplings and caviar farmed from Jirisan.

Korean President Lee Jae Myung, right, toasts U.S. President Donald Trump during a dinner event at a hotel in Gyeongju, North GYeongsang, on Oct. 29, following their bilateral summit. [JOITN PRESS CORPS]

Throughout his stay, security around Trump’s movements inside the hotel was tightly controlled. He did not use any of the hotel’s general facilities.

The eighth-floor suite he stayed in — reserved exclusively for visiting VIPs — was fitted with additional bulletproof glass panels on its windows.

“President Trump used the staff-only elevator located in the basement and was always accompanied by several American security agents,” said a hotel employee. “A tent was installed along the route leading from the parking area to the elevator, and only banquet staff caught a brief glimpse of him from behind.”

After Trump departed for Busan on Thursday morning, U.S. security personnel and Korean police remained on site for final security procedures. While access restrictions at the main gate have been lifted, entry to the hotel lobby is still limited to those passing through U.S.-installed security checkpoints.

“The U.S. team told us only that they would withdraw after President Trump leaves Korea, but did not specify the exact time of their departure,” said a hotel official.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]