By Jacob Burg

The Coca-Cola company has agreed to use cane sugar in its iconic Coke drink in the United States, President Donald Trump said on July 16.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he had been speaking to the beverage company about its Coke products. The president is a long-time fan of Diet Coke, with numerous photographs showing him drinking from its famous silver-label bottles.

“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 wrote. “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!”

The Epoch Times has reached out to Coca-Cola to confirm if the company has decided to alter its recipe in the United States and if the development follows conversations with the president. The company did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

The recipe for U.S.-based Coca-Cola famously uses corn syrup, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has voiced concerns over the ingredient’s potential health impacts.

Coca-Cola made in Mexico and the United Kingdom, for example, tends to use cane sugar instead, although sometimes in varying ratios with corn syrup, depending on the bottler. Mexican Coca-Cola exported to the United States still uses 100 percent cane sugar in its recipe.

Soda giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi Co. switched their recipes over to exclusively using corn syrup in the mid-1980s due to lower costs. Both companies experimented with varying ratios of sugar mixed with corn syrup in the years leading up to the full transition, reportedly deciding to switch after repeat taste tests showed no difference in taste with corn syrup instead of sugar.

However, many fans of Coca-Cola in the United States have expressed a preference for Coke made exclusively with cane sugar, leading to a rising popularity in imported Mexican Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey told investors in April that the company continues to “make progress on sugar reduction in our beverages.”

The company has “done this by changing recipes, as well as by using our global marketing resources and distribution network to boost awareness of and interest in our ever-expanding portfolio,” Quincey said.

Trump, who has long touted his love for Diet Coke, received the first-ever Presidential Commemorative Inaugural Diet Coke bottle from Quincey ahead of his inauguration earlier this year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.