The surprising reason why Donald Trump never got a pet dog at the White House

Is US President Donald Trump a dog person or a cat person? Well, he is certainly not a dog person. Even Trump himself cannot wrap his head around the fact that he would fall for a cute little poodle!The US President recently revealed the real reason why he has never got a dog. While delivering a speech on Friday night to a Palm Beach-area crowd, Trump recalled facing pressure to adopt a pet during his first term in the White House in 2017. “You know, they all wanted me to buy a dog when I went to the White House.”He added, “They said, sir, you’ll be the first president in 68 years who doesn’t have a dog. I said it’s not going to work for me.”President Trump was the special guest at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches’ annual dinner, held in West Palm Beach.During his presidency, Donald Trump faced all kinds of pressure. But this one was quite striking. For nearly seven decades, every American president has had a canine companion in the Oval Office. However, Trump wasn’t interested in that tradition. He also had his reasons for bucking this longstanding custom.Trump also took a dig at photographs of former President Joe Biden walking his dog.“But his dog was a vicious dog. Biting our Secret Service people. We have 28 bite problems. This was a violent dog,” Trump said.“That’s not a dog I’d want,” he added, and the crowd broke into laughter.As Trump pointed out, two of the three German Shepherds that Biden had during his presidency had bitten Secret Service agents.Trump also stated that while some genuinely loved having a canine friend, most presidents got dogs to get votes. “But for 60 years, I guess even longer, every president has had a dog, because they do it for votes. Some of them do it because they love the dog – probably most of them do it for votes.”“And I thought it would be quite fake,” he continued.Trump even asked the audience to picture how he would look with a fluffy dog. “Can you imagine, Donald Trump has purchased a lovely, lovely little poodle. And he walks him religiously on the White House grounds.”The President then used the opportunity to segue to his favourite topic.Though Trump is not really a dog person, he has a security robotic ‘dog’ for patrolling his huge property in Florida. Made by the robotics company Boston Dynamics, they come with a warning – “Do not pet”! Because, hey, who wouldn’t want to pet a dog?These robotic dogs have an important job.“Safeguarding the president-elect is a top priority,” Anthony Guglielmi, US Secret Service chief of communications, told the BBC in 2024.