The taxpayer doesn’t pay for his meals, actually. Came as a surprise to the Obamas they said once.
2014 link: https://www.theguardian.com/money/us-money-blog/2014/nov/28/obama-bill-white-house-thanksgiving
Didn’t look to hard for the Obama quote, but Nancy Reagan’s reaction is in that one.
It does still weigh on minds, I think, when justifying government overreach. But that would be like thinking about the Iran hostage crisis in 2001 for policy decisions.