Althouse: "Well, now we finally know what would happen if The Wall Street Journal and Us Weekly had a baby. In a piece titled 'Everyone in Trump’s Cabinet Is Eating Sauerkraut'..."

June 19, 2026

"Well, now we finally know what would happen if The Wall Street Journal and Us Weekly had a baby. In a piece titled 'Everyone in Trump’s Cabinet Is Eating Sauerkraut'..."

"... the Journal reports that various White House officials are shedding pounds thanks to a hot new diet that involves eating lots of fermented foods, like sauerkraut and kimchi.... There’s just one drawback: 'sulferous odors' have caused some 'friction at home.'... HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was, naturally, the first to jump on the trend. Now he’s converted Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, Transportation secretary Sean Duffy, and Vice-President J.D. Vance. We’re told that the men have been getting compliments on their 'glowing skin' and seeing various health benefits, including dramatic weight loss.... [S]everal Cabinet members have been looking svelter, and what other explanation could there be? It’s not like there’s some new magical weight-loss drug out there!"

Writes Margaret Hartmann, in "Sure, the Trump Cabinet’s Weight-Loss Secret Is Definitely 'Sauerkraut'" (New York Magazine).

59 comments:

rhhardin said...: "Alien Pet Diets" is supposed to be the best clickbait.; 6/19/26, 2:02 PM
CJinPA said...: That's bit catty, Margaret.

"Also: DON'T USE ITALICS."

I JUST saw this rule for posting comments here. How long was that up? I've violated it many times.; 6/19/26, 2:05 PM
Ted said...: "Vance has stayed committed to the diet, often eating eggs, sauerkraut, pickles, blackberries and raspberries for lunch, and beef or lamb with sauerkraut for dinner.... Lutnick has started to make fermented vegetables at home in lieu of eating store-bought sauerkraut."

This seems like a remarkably healthy diet by any standard. But it's amazing how they've suddenly reframed a Vermont-hippie practice like fermenting vegetables at home as a right-wing phenomenon.; 6/19/26, 2:17 PM
Narr said...: Interesting. My wife, who obsesses over her diet, has been telling me that sauerkraut and such are good for gut health.

Only, she doesn't like sauerkraut. She is now on to sourdough bread, which allegedly has similar effects,

I have a German palate myself, and thrive on pickled and fermented foods.; 6/19/26, 2:18 PM
Narr said...: Oh yeah. I enjoy being flatulent. Echt Deutsch.; 6/19/26, 2:20 PM
Narr said...: I don't think the NO ITALICS warning has been up for long.

I never used them deliberately.; 6/19/26, 2:22 PM
Wince said...: Ann Althouse said...
"Italics are a bad idea around here, where a lower case "i" is hard to achieve disconnected from other letters."
6/19/26, 1:28 PM

Huh? "Lower case." "Disconnected." Not sure I follow.

AI: "HTML is fundamentally case-insensitive when it comes to its tags, where [i tags] will all render the exact same italicized text. The browser automatically normalizes tag names into lowercase when parsing the document."; 6/19/26, 2:36 PM
John henry said...: As Chairman Mao said: "If you have to fart, then fart. You will feel better for it.”

John Henry; 6/19/26, 2:41 PM
Lazarus said...: This may be a lie or a joke or a practical joke. It's getting hard to tell now if somebody made up the story or if the White House folks actually were eating sauerkraut to spoof the press.; 6/19/26, 2:43 PM
Lazarus said...: Ayatollah issues fatwa against italics.
47-year-long existential struggle begins.; 6/19/26, 2:44 PM
John henry said...: “Fart for freedom, fart for liberty—and fart proudly”

Often misattributed to Benjamin Franklin; 6/19/26, 2:45 PM
RideSpaceMountain said...: I never use those espresso-fueled Fiat drivers for anything either. I want to live.; 6/19/26, 2:46 PM
Spiros said...: Hurrah for these men. I also relied on a fad diet to lose almost 60 pounds. I dropped down to about 160 pounds after ballooning up to 220. About 80% of my calories came from peanut butter. After a while, you just don't want to eat anything at all. I kept most that weight off even after I transitioned back to a normal diet.; 6/19/26, 2:54 PM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/19/26, 3:01 PM
DINKY DAU 45 said...: Might wanna put some in the cheeseburgers!; 6/19/26, 3:03 PM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/19/26, 3:05 PM
n.n said...: :italics on: a baby :italics off:

A fetus, perhaps. Abortion is a crash diet, Planned where demos-cracy dies in darkness.

Eat vegans (sic) with a B12 supplement? At the trough?

A diet of fat is uncorrelated with body fat. Protein is profound. A life of moderation is eminently sustainable and a model of affordable healthcare (sic) without the, Oh, bloat.; 6/19/26, 3:08 PM
Fred Drinkwater said...: Uh...where's the "she said, without evidence." bit.; 6/19/26, 3:16 PM
FortheloveofIce said...: Better not feed any kraut to Donald J Trump. His morbid obesity is half of his appeal to the base. Makes us feel like he's one of us MAGAts.....

That and his obvious dementia.; 6/19/26, 3:17 PM
Jim at said...: Just when you think the media can't get anymore pathetic ....; 6/19/26, 3:33 PM
Mason G said...: Just when you think the trolls can't get anymore pathetic ....; 6/19/26, 3:39 PM
Ralph L said...: By their farts, you shall know them.; 6/19/26, 3:43 PM
FortheloveofIce said...: Yes, Mason!
On that subject, have you noticed alll of the trolls crying about the Linoln Pool have gone awfully quiet? Fermented, rancid gas hanging in the air at all times AND tens of millions of dollars spent on a no bid contract, to reach the swampy green result, is the PERFECT reflection of this administration.
MAGA!; 6/19/26, 3:47 PM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: The internet bored me to tears before I could get a credible answer to the question whether rinsing the salt off of sauerkraut negates its health benefits.; 6/19/26, 4:01 PM
hanuman_prodigious_leaper said...: Now WH can scatter The Press by simply turning their back hasten climate change; 6/19/26, 4:15 PM
gadfly said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/19/26, 4:22 PM
Quayle said...: You say kimchee. I say gok-duggi!; 6/19/26, 4:34 PM
Curious George said...: "Interesting. My wife, who obsesses over her diet, has been telling me that sauerkraut and such are good for gut health."

Most store bought sauerkraut isn't. I'm on antibiotics for nine years because of two infections from my second hip replacement. I've been taking a probiotIc (Florigen) but I was queasy with all food so I added a non-pasteurized Sauerkraut daily. Bubbies is the brand, high in probiotics and fiber, perfect! Helps I really like kraut.; 6/19/26, 5:05 PM
Rosalyn C. said...: Eating unpasteurized sauerkraut (containing probiotics) and other fermented foods is not a new fad, it's based on feeding the good bacteria in the gut to improve the immune system. I could look up the names of all these creatures AKA the microbiome, but so can you if you want their names.
I have never heard of any connection between sauerkraut and weight loss but increasing fiber, especially at the beginning of a meal, tends to produce a feeling of being full. Satiety could cut down the amount of food you want to eat and your caloric intact.; 6/19/26, 5:14 PM
tcrosse said...: "In 1768, Captain Cook loaded 7,860 pounds of sauerkraut onto the HMS Endeavour. He had observed that Dutch sailors, who regularly consumed fermented cabbage, suffered far less from scurvy"; 6/19/26, 5:26 PM
Maynard said...: Do you know who else ate sauerkraut: The Nazis!; 6/19/26, 5:34 PM
rehajm said...: …me in-laws take me to this pizza place that makes something called shotsy what has sauerkraut on it 😵‍💫; 6/19/26, 5:37 PM
tcrosse said...: Reuben, Reuben, I've been thinking.....; 6/19/26, 5:57 PM
FortheloveofIce said...: Reuben, Reuben, I've been thinking.....

Kraut is why Don's diaper's stinking; 6/19/26, 6:22 PM
mezzrow said...: future searches centering on content from the mid-20s will find 'gut biome' one of the most effective strings to employ.; 6/19/26, 6:22 PM
Ann Althouse said...: “ I JUST saw this rule for posting comments here. How long was that up? I've violated it many times.”

It’s a new rule. I put it up today. Don’t worry about having used italics in the past. I just think we need to avoid them going forward because it’s too easy for the closing tag not to work, basically because it autocorrects into a capital I, and that causes everything that follows to be an italics. So I think it’s not worth the risk.; 6/19/26, 6:32 PM
BG said...: I like to make a "Bavarian" version with my homemade sauerkraut. Heat sauerkraut mixed with a little brown sugar and caraway seed until warm. I have to rinse my sauerkraut before using because otherwise it would be WAY too salty.; 6/19/26, 6:34 PM
Narr said...: Thanks for the insights, Curious G and Rosalyn.; 6/19/26, 6:36 PM
Mason G said...: Test 1.

Test 2

Test 3.; 6/19/26, 6:39 PM
Mason G said...: FWIW, I used a capital "I" in the closing tag in my post above. That's not the problem.; 6/19/26, 6:40 PM
William said...: I don't understand the cattiness. Why is taking ozempic more reprehensible eating sauerkraut? Maybe they should ferment the sauerkraut in ozempic to boost the effects.; 6/19/26, 6:45 PM
Winston said...: I read Casey Means' (of MAHA fame) Good Energy in January. Three servings of kraut/kimchee/yogurt a day is one of her recommendations. I followed most of her recommendations, including the kraut, and promptly lost the 15 lbs I wanted to lose. I had fresh labs done this month and all my key numbers were improved. I don't know if it was just the sauerkraut, but her arguments for it make sense.; 6/19/26, 7:22 PM
rehajm said...: I never use those espresso-fueled Fiat drivers for anything either. I want to live.

…there’s both a Fiat and a La Marzocco machine in my house. Uh oh…; 6/19/26, 7:31 PM
Skeptical Voter said...: For the love of ICE--If you look at the body mass index calculators Trump is not "morbidly obese". He's a long way from it. He's bouncing around on the BMI line between "overweight" and "obese". He's got some way to go before he's morbidly obese. But heck fire if you want to throw some slanging stones around go ahead--it's a free country, but it says more about you than about the Bad Orange Man.; 6/19/26, 7:48 PM
Mason G said...: "but it says more about you than about the Bad Orange Man."

Probably a Chinese troll- it's hard to get good ones anymore.; 6/19/26, 7:52 PM
tcrosse said...: What's wrong with italics? Do they distort the meaning? Do they use up too much bandwidth? Just asking.; 6/19/26, 7:53 PM
Mason G said...: PS: Sorry about the italics. I'll try to remember not to do that anymore.; 6/19/26, 7:53 PM
Aggie said...: I'm not taking any action on this until Howard weighs in. My guru of gut.; 6/19/26, 8:29 PM
Narr said...: How could I forget?

Key and Peele If Names Were Farts.; 6/19/26, 9:21 PM
Rocco said...: Mason G said...
Probably a Chinese troll- it's hard to get good ones anymore.

Damn cheap knock-offs.

Although, X seems to get a lot of troll accounts from South Asia, especially Pakistan.; 6/20/26, 5:48 AM
Rocco said...: tcrosse said...
What's wrong with italics? Do they distort the meaning? Do they use up too much bandwidth? Just asking.

Well, I sure as hell ain’t gonna apologize for Italics.; 6/20/26, 5:50 AM
Rocco said...: tcrosse said...
“What's wrong with italics? Do they distort the meaning?”

Distorting the meaning forms the basis for many types of humor.

…And leftist philosophy as well. Which just goes to show that leftist philosophy is a joke.; 6/20/26, 5:53 AM
Rocco said...: Sauerkraut is low in calories.

And as tcrosse’s Captain Cook story implies, high in vitamin C as well.; 6/20/26, 5:56 AM
Rocco said...: Narr said...
“I have a German palate myself, and thrive on pickled and fermented foods.”

What is your opinion on Limburger cheese and goetta?

There was always a block of Limburger, a roll of goetta, 3 jars of pickles (both the regular and beet kinds) in the fridge when I was growing up.; 6/20/26, 6:06 AM
Mr. O. Possum said...: I also understand that President Bush likes country music as much as Chairman Andropov loves jazz.; 6/20/26, 6:54 AM
Sean said...: I thought fermented foods increased cancer risk. Kimchi is blamed for the the higher incidence of stomach cancer in Korea.; 6/20/26, 7:03 AM
Narr said...: Goetta was not a staple, but stinky cheese and liverwurst were.

Big dinners featured roast beef, whipped potatoes, and schnibbelboehn, along with Southern seasonal veggies.; 6/20/26, 1:18 PM
Tina Trent said...: Where do you get Limburger now? All the groceries have stopped carrying it.; 6/21/26, 8:06 AM
Narr said...: IDK, Tina, I haven't looked.
Anybody here buy cheese through the portal?; 6/21/26, 9:31 AM