Afraid they were going to set off World War III.
Donald Trump gave the commencement speech at the University of Alabama last night, which is pretty incredible in and of itself. Imagine not only having the President of the United States as your graduation speaker, but also Donald Trump, who gives some of the wildest speeches we’ve ever seen from a politician. Just unfiltered thoughts and advice from the most powerful man in the world.
Regardless of your politics, that’s way more interesting than a CEO or whoever they usually get for these things. (My graduation speaker was Maya Rudolph and she sang the national anthem as an SNL character. It was painfully awkward).
But anyway, I’m not here to talk about Trump’s speech itself, but rather a hilarious story that legendary Alabama football coach Nick Saban told while introducing the president.
One of the perks of winning a national championship is getting to visit the White House and meet with the president. Naturally, Saban was a frequent guest in Washington DC after winning 6 national championships with the Crimson Tide. And though only one of those titles came during Trump’s first term as president, following the Tide’s win over the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2018 College Football Playoffs, it sounds like it was quite the memorable visit.
As Saban recalled, Trump was the first president to invite the team into the Oval Office during their visit:
“I take the three captains in the Oval Office, and the president’s really nice to everybody. And he’s got this very big, good looking, auspicious box on his desk that has a red button on top.
And one of the players said, ‘Is that what you launch the missiles with?'”
That would probably be my first question too.
Well Trump encouraged the players to push the button to find out, but naturally, not knowing what the button on the president’s desk actually did, they were hesitant – until one finally stepped up:
“Rashaan Evans finally got the guts up, went over and pushed the red button.
Some lady came in with a Coke on a tray.”
Of course by now the red Diet Coke button on Trump’s desk is well-known. The president is a prolific consumer of Diet Coke, reportedly going through 12 cans of pop a day. In fact, his friend and UFC CEO Dana White once said that he had never seen the president drink water or anything BUT Diet Coke.
When Trump moved back into the White House in January, one of the first changes he made to the Oval Office was reinstalling his Diet Coke button, which sits on his desk and summons a White House aide to bring him a drink whenever he needs it. But the sight of a bright red button on the president’s desk raised some eyebrows at first, with folks wondering just what would happen if he pressed that button.
Luckily it doesn’t launch missiles or start a nuclear war: It’s just an easy way for Trump to get a caffeine fix whenever he needs it throughout the day.
The post “Push It & See What Happens” – Nick Saban Hilariously Recalls Donald Trump Encouraging Alabama Football Players To Push The Red Button On His Desk In The Oval Office first appeared on Whiskey Riff.