Donald Trump kicked off his presidency on Friday night, taking to the stage with wife Melania for the traditional Inauguration Ball after being sworn into office earlier that afternoon. Amongst the festivities, the business mogul and his Vice President Mike Pence were invited to cut into the showstopping tiered inaugural cake with a sword. However, many noted that the impressive confection bore a striking resemblance to that of Barack Obama's inauguration cake.
Baker Duff Goldman, who baked the cake for Barack's celebrations in 2013, took to Twitter with a photo montage to highlight that the new cake was identical to his original creation. "The cake on the left is the one I made for President Obama's inauguration 4 years ago. The one on the right is Trumps. I didn't make it," he wrote.
While some social media users expressed outrage that his design had been replicated, Duff explained that he thought the bakers this year had done a "fantastic job" with the inauguration cake. "Remembering a fantastic cake I made is awesome and the chef that re-created it for @POTUS Trump did a fantastic job. Group hug, y'all," he wrote in a separate tweet, later adding that it was common in the baking industry for cake designs to be copied by others.
Buttercream Bakeshop, the foodie gurus behind Trump's cake, revealed that they had been asked to copy the design by this year's inaugural committee. Explaining that they were "thrilled" to take on the project, the Washington-based bakers added that all profits they made had been donated to the Human Rights Campaign.
"Excited to share the cake we got to make for one of last night's inaugural balls," the bakers wrote in an Instagram caption, alongside a photo of the cake, "While we most love creating original designs, when we are asked to replicate someone else's work we are thrilled when it is a masterpiece like this one. @duff_goldman originally created this for Obama's inauguration 4 years ago and this years committee commissioned us to re-create it.
"Best part is all the profits are being donated to @humanrightscampaign, one of our favorite charities who we have loved working with over the years. Because basic human rights are something every man, woman and child~ straight, gay or the rainbow in between~ deserve!"