President Trump's Awkward UN Wine Toast Goes Viral
President Trump appeared to take a sip of wine during a toast at the United Nations on Sept. 19, and the professed teetotaler's apparent indulgence has set Twitter abuzz.
In the past, Trump has opened up about abstaining from booze following the alcohol-related death of his brother Fred. But while leading a toast to the "great, great potential" of the United Nations, the president appeared to have taken a sip of a blood-red drink from a wine glass. He immediately handed the glass to an aide and took a seat.
It is unclear whether Trump actually consumed the wine — or if it was actually Welch's grape juice.
In a 2015 interview with 60 Minutes, Trump spoke of his late brother: "He would tell me constantly, 'Don't drink,'" he said, according to The New York Daily News. "And I've never had a drink. I own the largest winery on the East Coast and yet I don't drink, which is a little weird. But he said, 'Don't drink. Don't smoke.' And he would tell me all the time."
WATCH: Pres. Trump gives a toast to "the potential" of the UN during a UN luncheon Tuesday. https://t.co/WQLWAAa5P2
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) September 19, 2017
Those who watched the U.N. address took special notice of the president's apparent encounter with wine. And now, the moment is trending on Twitter.
"Trump, who doesn't drink is addressing UN lunch, giving a toast with a glass of red wine in his hand. Took a sip," tweeted Annie Karni, a White House reporter at Politico. Multiple other members of the media also offered their takes on social media, including Bloomberg White House correspondent Jennifer Jacobs, NBC host Katy Tur, and NPR lead politics editor Domenico Montanaro.
"He joins many of us who never drank before 11/8/2016," responded Damond Trowbridge.
"It was grape juice!! Cause it's bad luck to toast with water!!!" wrote @smidge001.
Trump has previously professed a willingness to bend the rules for ceremonial reasons. During a leadership summit in 2015, the president admitted that drinking communion wine is very much a part of his religious life. "When we go in church I drink the little wine, which is about the only wine I drink, and I eat the little cracker," he said, according to MSNBC.
In the realm of non-alcoholic beverages, Trump's diet is undoubtedly different than his predecessor's. Forty-five's favorite drink is supposedly Diet Coke, while Barack Obama's is Black Forest Berry Honest Tea. You can find all that and more in the different eating habits of Presidents Obama and Trump.