President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that Coca-Cola has agreed to begin using real cane sugar in its U.S. products following conversations with the company’s leadership.
“I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “I’d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola. This will be a very good move by them — You’ll see. It’s just better!”
For decades, Coca-Cola has used high-fructose corn syrup in its American products—a cheaper sweetener that replaced cane sugar in the 1980s. Critics have long argued that the switch contributed to the national rise in obesity and diabetes.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an outspoken opponent of high-fructose corn syrup, has slammed the substance as “poison,” warning that it is “a formula for making you obese and diabetic.”
Trump’s push aligns with Kennedy’s long-standing criticism of major food and beverage corporations. While Coca-Cola has not yet publicly confirmed the timeline of the change, the move would represent a significant shift in the American soft drink industry.
The switch to cane sugar mirrors the formula used in “Mexican Coke,” a version of the beverage bottled in glass and exported to the U.S., which many soda enthusiasts claim has a cleaner, more authentic taste.
President Trump, who is famously known for his affinity for Diet Coke, has reportedly consumed up to a dozen cans a day. Ahead of his second inauguration, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey gifted Trump a custom “Presidential Commemorative Inaugural Diet Coke bottle”—a testament to the brand’s recognition of the president’s loyalty.
If fully implemented, the sugar switch would mark a rare intersection of health advocacy and industrial reform, spurred not by bureaucratic regulation but by direct presidential influence and negotiation.