The Blunt Reason Anthony Bourdain Said He'd Never Eat With Donald Trump

Much of legendary chef and TV host Anthony Bourdain's life was spent exploring new places and breaking bread with people who were often very different from the gruff New Yorker. Bourdain typically embraced these differences, but he was up front about his lack of interest in ever dining with another well-known New York City figure whose persona stood in stark contrast to his own. That figure was Donald Trump, and as usual, Bourdain didn't leave any ambiguity about why.

Bourdain's comments came in an interview with CBC News in 2017, one year after Trump was first elected president. When asked about the possibility of dining with him, Bourdain couched his response by noting, "I'm open to sitting down with anyone who's nice to me." He pointed to past interactions with individuals he described as "people I disagree with on many, if not every, fundamental issue," citing the vocal politically conservative musician Ted Nugent, the former chief of counterintelligence for the Soviet Union's KGB secret police, and members of the terror group Hezbollah as examples.

Nevertheless, he gave a firm "no" to the idea of dining with Trump. Bourdain summed up his stance with, "I just find him personally objectionable," and went on to say, "I don't think he likes food." He also suggested that others who have dined with Trump revealed that the president mostly talked about himself during dinner.

The cantankerous late chef capped off his criticism of Donald Trump with two somewhat sarcastic digs that rang true to those who've followed public commentary about the Commander in Chief and his childlike culinary tastes. Bourdain dismissed the way Donald Trump eats steak (well-done) and speculated that he didn't know how to use chopsticks, or even possess the ability to "grasp them with those tiny little nubbins."

To be sure, Bourdain wasn't opposed to dining with presidents in general. Fans likely remember his headline-making meal with then-President Barack Obama in Vietnam in 2016, when the two tackled topics ranging from war and global politics to family and food. The discussion, which was aired in part on an episode of "Parts Unknown," also produced Obama's savage take on ketchup that subsequently went viral.

Those who followed the chef's career are likely unsurprised by his blunt, no-nonsense response to a hypothetical Trump interaction. Bourdain was never shy about sharing his strong opinions, including the rules he lived by when dining out, the product of years spent in high-end restaurant kitchens. Even in the later years of his life, as he rose to international stardom, he was always outspoken. If Bourdain were here today, we're willing to guess that his list of desired dining companions would not include the 47th president.