President Trump touted his administration’s success with bringing down prices by recalling one of the most memorable moments of his 2024 campaign for an audience of McDonald’s Restaurant owners, operators and suppliers.
The president, addressing attendees at the McDonald’s Impact Summit in downtown Washington, revisited his time working the drive-through window at one of the fast-food chain’s outlets during a campaign appearance in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
“After I did the french fries and did some other things, I then stood at the window, and the people would drive up a little bored, in all fairness. I mean, they’re waiting for a hamburger. Okay?” he said.
“So they drive up … They look over, ‘Whoa,’ was every one of them. And it was fascinating. Every one of them. The response was incredible, almost like I knew I was going to win when I saw that.”
Mr. Trump and his team are looking to highlight the steps he has taken to support small businesses and job creators ahead of next year’s midterms..
The White House has proposed several economic plans to bring everyday costs down since Mr. Trump returned to the Oval Office, including giving Americans $2,000 rebate checks, lowering tariffs on beef, coffee, nuts, spices and several other food products, and offering portable mortgages, which would allow a homeowner to transfer their loan from their present home to a new residence when they move out.
He told attendees that Google co-founder Sergey Brin and CEO Sundar Pichai told him that one day after the video of Mr. Trump at the McDonald’s went online, it received more hits than anything else in Google’s history, and that record still stands.
“In the old days, McDonald’s and many others would call me to do this kind of thing, come over and say some words and talk, and they’d pay me millions of dollars,” Mr. Trump said. “And as president, I’m doing this damn thing for nothing, and you know what? Because it’s you, it’s an honor to do it.”
Mr. Trump praised McDonald’s own moves to cut prices on its menus and blamed the Biden administration for the high food costs people are paying.
“So even though it’s coming down and coming down a lot, they want to see where it was like when I was president, and we’ll be getting it very close to that number, maybe even better, depending on what we do with energy,” Mr. Trump said, adding that the cost of energy and the rate of inflation have come down in the nine months since he returned to office.
“In the past six months, the price of breakfast items has fallen 14%. Bread prices are down. Dairy prices are down,” he said.
Fast-food giants like McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s kicked off the 99 cent value menus in 1989 ($2.59 in 2025) and the deals became popular among consumers looking to stretch their bank accounts over the years.
McDonald’s CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski has said the chain is going back to focus more on its value menu, according to The Street, by reducing the Snack Wrap to a $2.99 price point, adding more value meals and largely focusing on value offerings, not just in the U.S. but globally.
Almost 80% of Americans said they believe fast food has become a “luxury” and that they are “eating out less,” according to a recent LendingTree survey.
McDonald’s looked to ease the pain in the pocketbook and said in a press statement last September, “Starting Nov. 4, Sausage, Egg and Cheese McGriddles and 10-piece Chicken McNuggets will be added to the Extra Value menu for a limited time.”
Mr. Trump also touted to summit attendees the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cut taxes on tips and overtime.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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