Q-Donald’s Sweet Bluff - How Coca-Cola Became the Next Stage for His Fantasy World

It was a post made for headlines - and as so often with Donald Trump: loud, confident, unverified. On Wednesday, July 16, 2025, the president announced on Truth Social that Coca-Cola would henceforth use "real cane sugar" in U.S. Coke at his request. "I have been speaking to Coca-Cola, and they have agreed," Trump wrote. "This will be a very good move by them - you’ll see. It’s just better!" But as soon as the message was out, the sobering truth followed. Coca-Cola responded - we asked ourselves - diplomatically but clearly. The company appreciated "the president’s enthusiasm for our iconic brand," a spokesperson said. Details on new product lines would be "shared soon." As for a recipe change or a switch to cane sugar - no sign of it. No denial, but also no confirmation. A polite nod in Trump’s direction, nothing more.

The episode is reminiscent of earlier fantasies from the 79-year-old, who increasingly makes claims that are later downplayed or outright denied by the companies or authorities involved. But this time it’s particularly bizarre: Coca-Cola is not just any company - it is the symbol of American consumer culture par excellence. That Trump is now weaving even this symbol into his political theatrics fits into a larger narrative - the reinterpretation of consumer habits as a national mission. In truth, Coca-Cola’s formula has been well known for decades - at least when it comes to the sweetener: since 1984, Coca-Cola in the U.S. has no longer used cane sugar, but high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). The reason at the time was economic - cane sugar was too expensive, corn syrup cheaper thanks to agricultural subsidies. In other countries - such as Mexico or Australia - they stuck with cane sugar. These differences led to the curious development that so-called "Mexican Coke" is considered a delicacy in the U.S.

The debate over the sugar substitute is not new. For years, the health benefits of HFCS have been hotly debated. Trump’s Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is now using this sentiment for his "Make America Healthy Again" campaign. He wants to ban not only corn syrup but also industrial seed oils - an agenda that is popular in parts of the alternative health movement but is highly controversial scientifically. No surprise, then, that the Corn Refiners Association immediately responded to Trump’s Coca-Cola claim - with sharp criticism. Its president, John Bode, warned the same day that a return to cane sugar "would cost thousands of American food manufacturing jobs, depress farm income, and increase imports of foreign sugar" - "with no nutritional benefit whatsoever," as he emphasized. It is a rare and clearly worded contradiction to a sitting or former president - a sign of how absurd the situation has become. And Cola-Donald himself? The man who just a few years ago publicly criticized Coca-Cola - only to have Diet Coke delivered to his bedside at the G20 summit - is now portraying himself as the savior of the original taste. Yet he doesn't even drink regular Coke, but has always preferred the diet version with aspartame - a synthetic sweetener that is also a target in his own health campaign.

In the end, what remains is a tweet, a wish - and another example of what lies at the core of Trump’s political method: he makes a claim that sounds good, appeals to emotion, but does not correspond to reality. And in doing so, he forces institutions, companies, or authorities to respond. Even if nothing has happened, the impression remains that something has happened. This is how politics becomes a show - an assertion, an imagination. Coca-Cola smiled politely and leaned back. The next act in the Trump Theater is sure to follow.