President Donald Trump is planning to announce something he’s calling “the most dishonest and corrupt media awards of the year,” although what form that’ll take remains unclear. But one celebrity chef is already readying a generous prize for the winners: José Andrés is offering free lunch to anyone who wins one of Trump’s ignoble honors.
Andrés went public with the offer on Twitter on Sunday morning, responding to a tweet from former Barack Obama speechwriter and current Pod Save America host Jon Favreau. In simple terms, Andrés is offering the winners lunch with him at one of his restaurants.
To all the winners for Mondays’s Dishonest and Corrupt Media Awards of @realdonaldtrump I want to contribute with lunch on me in any of my restaurants as a reward…. https://t.co/LuCkd0c1pG
— Chef José Andrés 🕊️🥘🍳 (@chefjoseandres) January 7, 2018
Andrés, 48, has a history with Trump, although not an entirely hostile one. In the summer of 2015, Andrés pulled out of a signed deal to open a restaurant in Trump’s Washington, D.C. hotel. The reason he cited was straightforward; it was in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s hyper-inflammatory presidential announcement speech, in which he broad-brushed Mexican immigrants as “rapists.” Andrés, himself a U.S. citizen who immigrated from Spain, was offended by the remarks and argued that the rhetoric would hurt the restaurant by dissuading Latinos from working and eating there.
Trump ultimately sued Andrés for breach of contract, the two reached an undisclosed settlement last April, and they indicated they planned to move forward as “friends.” Andrés didn’t end up opening that location at the Trump International Hotel, however—which means the winners of the president’s mock media awards will have to go elsewhere to cash in their free meals.
Some figures in entertainment and comedy media have openly been lobbying Trump to give them one of the awards, including Trevor Noah of The Daily Show, and Stephen Colbert of The Late Show. Earlier this week, Trump tweeted that he’d be making the announcements at 5pm ET on Monday, so they won’t have to wait much longer to find out.
