# What is a nothing Burger? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [February 24, 2026, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933 "2026-02-24T15:28:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/1 "2026-02-24T15:28:04Z")
I asked this on my Facebook account, but I did not feel satisfied with the answers given considering what I have seen and read here. On facebook, I asked about how it’s connected to Donald Trump. How and why and what the reference is. The people who replied told me in so many words that basically “it’s not connected to Donald Trump at all, it predates him going back to the early 40s and 50s” Okay… That may be so.. … But then why on Earth do I always see the term “nothing Burger” connected to Donald Trump on here? Like that is the only time I ever see that word being used, when it’s being used in tandem with something Donald Trump said. What am I missing here? Two people on Facebook said that it is not connected to Donald Trump in any way but from what I have seen on here, it is… What is it nothing burger and how did it get linked to Donald Trump specifically? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/2 "2026-02-24T15:36:35Z")
A Nothing Burger is a joke about a “hamburger” that’s “hold the cheese, pickles, lettuce, onion, tomato, catsup, patty and bun”– in other words, nothing’s left. It’s a modern variation of an old joke about " “If we had some ham, we could have a ham sandwich, if we had some bread”. Colloquially, a Nothing Burger is something so lacking in merit or content that it’s dismissible. If there’s a context referring to Donald Trump I haven’t heard it before. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/3 "2026-02-24T15:37:09Z")
# [Where did the term ‘nothing burger’ actually originate?](https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Where-did-the-term-nothing-burger-actually-11283897.php) “Nothingburger” apparently was popularized in the Fifties by a Hollywood gossip columnist and saw a resurgence in 2016 due to the Trump/Russia investigation and attempts to frame the whole Trump/Russia thing as a hoax. Essentially, it’s a modernization of [Shakespeare.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Ado_About_Nothing) ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/4 "2026-02-24T15:51:53Z")
Thank you, I was figuring I was going crazy. Well…crazier. It’s like “not connected to Donald trump? I ONLY ever see it connected to Donald Trump on these boards” I can’t tell you how many times I have seen someone talking about Donald Trump, something he did or said, and then somebody else quote it and be like “it’s a nothing Burger”. I have never heard of that term before being on here and reading about threads involving Donald Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/5 "2026-02-24T15:53:35Z")
Slightly related but this might just be a reference to him being like a toddler and throwing a temper tantrum and food around… … But is there any reference that I’m missing with the whole “there’s going to be ketchup on the walls tonight” and similar comments? Is he known for throwing food at the walls? Has this happened already? Or is it just comparing him to an angry kid who is possibly pounding on ketchup packets? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/6 "2026-02-24T15:56:01Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Thank you, 👍 > [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Is he known for throwing food at the walls? > **[Trump would throw food against the wall once or twice a week, former White...](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-would-often-throw-food-against-wall-cassidy-hutchinson-2023-10)** > > Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson said that bad news stories would often get Trump angry. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jFYZkkPaM5A/maxresdefault.jpg "Hutchinson describes Trump throwing food at wall") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFYZkkPaM5A&t=0) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/7 "2026-02-24T15:58:43Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > It’s like “not connected to Donald trump? I ONLY ever see it connected to Donald Trump on these boards” It did not _originate_ with him, is I think what people are saying, though you’re right, not only has he used it, but people have regularly used it in reference to him. The fact that he apparently likes hamburgers a lot is undoubtedly part of the reason why. > [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > … But is there any reference that I’m missing with the whole “there’s going to be ketchup on the walls tonight” and similar comments? > > Is he known for throwing food at the walls? Has this happened already? There’s a well-known (but unconfirmed) story, related by former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson during her testimony before the House January 6th Committee in 2022. > [@](#): > > Cassidy Hutchinson alleged that President Donald Trump threw his lunch at the wall in response to statements his attorney general made about the 2020 election. Hutchinson, a top aide to President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, said [in her testimony Tuesday](https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/house-january-6-committee-hearing-how-to-watch-live-stream-2022-06-28/) before the House committee investigating Jan. 6 that she saw ketchup dripping on the wall after the Dec. 1, 2020 incident. > > Attorney General William Barr had told the [Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/barr-no-widespread-election-fraud-b1f1488796c9a98c4b1a9061a6c7f49d) there wasn’t enough evidence to prove widespread fraud during the 2020 election. > > Hutchinson told the panel that she was in her office and heard noise coming from down the hall. “I poked my head out of the office and I saw the valet walking towards our office. He said to get the chief down to the dining room, the president wants them,” Hutchinson testified. “Mark [Meadows] went down to the dining room, came back to the office a few minutes later.” > > After Meadows returned, Hutchinson went to the dining room and noticed that the door was propped open “and the valet was inside the dining room changing the tablecloth off of the table,” she said. > > “He motioned for me to come in. He pointed towards the front of the room near the fireplace mantle and the TV, where I first noticed there was ketchup dripping on the wall and there was a shattered porcelain plate on the floor,” she said. > > “The valet had articulated that the president was extremely angry at the attorney general’s AP interview and had thrown his lunch against the wall, which was causing them to have to clean up,” she said. “So, I grabbed a towel, and started wiping the ketchup off the wall to help the valet out.” > **[President Trump got so angry at Attorney General Barr, he threw his lunch,...](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/january-6-committee-hearing-cassidy-hutchinson-testifies-president-trump-threw-his-lunch-angry-at-attorney-general-william-barr/)** > > "I grabbed a towel, and started wiping the ketchup off the wall to help the valet out," Hutchinson said. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/8 "2026-02-24T15:59:30Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > There’s a well-known (but unconfirmed) story, related by former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson during her testimony before the House January 6th Committee in 2022. Which is the above video. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/9 "2026-02-24T16:00:00Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Which is the above video. 🙂 Sorry, simul-post on that. You posted it while I was hunting down a cite. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/10 "2026-02-24T16:00:49Z")
S’all good. I’m guessing some people would prefer to read the transcript. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/11 "2026-02-24T16:01:46Z")
It is related to the “rubber biscuit”. Check the lyrics. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/E_D_mwTcsKk/hqdefault.jpg "THE CHIPS - ''RUBBER BISCUIT'' (1956)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_D_mwTcsKk) ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/12 "2026-02-24T16:05:44Z")
Nah, I specifically asked on Facebook “what is the connection to him, why do I see this referenced every time Donald Trump is talked about?” The two answers I got were “it is not connected to Donald Trump in any way”. Of course I could have probably just googled myself. I did wind up doing that and I found that he and his team used that phrase a ton in 2016… So that it became linked to him. Makes sense now… I guess the people who answered my status on Facebook just didn’t know about that part. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/13 "2026-02-24T16:07:51Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > But then why on Earth do I always see the term “nothing Burger” connected to Donald Trump on here? I don’t remember seeing the term connected to Trump, but have heard the term for years. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/14 "2026-02-24T16:17:04Z")
My memory on this is probably off, but I think it was frequently used by Trump _supporters_ to indicate that whatever Trump was being accused of basically had no merit, even when the evidence was plainly there for all to see. (Kind of like, nothing to see here, let’s move on.) For example that Mar-a-Lago documents case where he stole confidential documents from the White House? Just a big nothingburger. It probably got associated with Trump because his supporters used it to defend him every time another criminal act of his was exposed. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/15 "2026-02-24T16:30:13Z")
[[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/UvyBJwV.png?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/ZsHEGkJ) That’s what Google said. Used by Donald Trump… And his team. Probably his supporters too though. So that answers my question, thank you. That’s all I was wondering, why / how is it connected to Donald Trump? I wasn’t really asking “is it connected to Donald Trump?”… I already knew it was due to my history on here of seeing it in pretty much every other Donald Trump topic. I just didn’t know what the specific connection was. Looks like they used it a lot so they are now forever in bed with it. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/16 "2026-02-24T18:00:01Z")
The simple answer is that the Trump sphere liked to use it to dismiss actual factual accusations of the president, and since there are many many factual accusations against the president, they would say it many many times a day, if not within the same press conference. When everything is a nothing burger, nothing is a nothing burger. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/17 "2026-02-24T18:01:30Z")
My experience is the opposite of the OP’s. I’ve never seen nothingburger applied to Trump in any way by anybody. But I’ve seen the term a million times. It went back into popularity a decade ago, pre-Trump, when practically everyone in Washington was using it. > **[‘Nothing burger’ is nothing new. It’s been around for decades | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2017/07/14/politics/nothing-burger-word-history-what-is-trnd/index.html)** > > There’s a juicy history behind the hottest political insult ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/18 "2026-02-24T18:16:53Z")
Additional info on the ketchup on the wall incident: It wasn’t just any ol’ wall painted with latex paint that could be cleaned up with a sponge and some spray cleaner. Nope. The wall covering was silk, or some other expensive fabric, and it would require professional cleaning, or even having the wall covering replaced. Like everything else, his messes are always somebody else’s fault. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/19 "2026-02-24T19:59:21Z")
Trump is definitely not into nothing burgers. His favorite involves two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions on a sesame seed bun…times 2. Plus other stuff. > **[I ate Trump's absurd, 2,430-calorie McDonald's order — and it was even worse...](https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-mcdonalds-order-review-2017-12)** > > A new book outlines Trump's favorite McDonald's order, and I decided to try it. It was a lot to eat in one sitting. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933/20 "2026-02-24T20:16:50Z")
It’s probably not as damaging to one’s health if it’s thrown at the wall rather than comsumed. Bad for the wall, of course. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-nothing-burger/1027933.md?page=2)