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Coca-Cola has presented President-elect Donald Trump with an inaugural Diet Coke bottle, becoming the latest company to fall in line with the new Trump era.
This comes after the company slammed Trump and his supporters following the January 6 Capitol riot. The company said at the time that the assault on Congress was “an offense to the ideals of American democracy.”
“With the election results now certified, we have faith in America’s democratic institutions to ensure a peaceful transfer of power and allow the U.S. to move forward together as one nation,” the company added.
Trump Deputy Communications Director Margo Martin wrote on X on Tuesday night that Trump “received the first-ever Presidential Commemorative Inaugural Diet Coke bottle from the Chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola Company, James Quincey.”
Quincey, who posed with Trump for a photograph, became the CEO in 2017 and the chair of the board in 2019.
In the photo, Trump holds the bottle of Diet Coke, which has a label with a drawing of the White House and the phrase “The Inauguration of the President of the United States” and Trump’s name and the date of Monday’s inauguration.
The bottle came in a box with a note stating: “Founded 126 years ago in Atlanta, Georgia, The Coca-Cola Company takes great pride in producing hundreds of brands that people enjoy. Along with our 60+ independent bottling partners, the Coca-Cola system generates $58+ billion in U.S. economic activity annually and supports more than 860,000 jobs in the United States.”
A Coca-Cola representative told Newsweek that the meeting between Quincey and Trump “reinforces our commitment to strengthening America’s economic future.”
While Martin claimed it was “the first ever Presidential Commemorative Inaugural Diet Coke bottle,” Coca-Cola told Newsweek it has “a tradition of creating commemorative Coca-Cola bottles in celebration of U.S. presidential inaugurations, dating back to 2005.”
The company added that Quincy “met with President-elect Donald Trump to present a commemorative bottle of Diet Coke and to highlight Coca-Cola’s contributions to the U.S. economy.”
During his first term, Trump reportedly had a button installed on the desk in the Oval Office to alert staff that he wanted a Diet Coke. Trump drank around a dozen Diet Cokes a day during his first year as president, The New York Times reported in December 2017.
A number of companies have been taking steps to align themselves with the incoming Trump administration. Several tech companies have been rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, which have been blasted by Trump.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has also rolled back its fact-checking initiatives in addition to removing its DEI programs. Other companies that have restricted their DEI efforts include Amazon, Walmart, and McDonald’s.
Several social media users pointed out that in 2012, Trump tweeted: “The Coca Cola company is not happy with me — that’s okay, I’ll still keep drinking that garbage.”
