The annual McDonald’s Impact Summit in Washington, D.C. became an unexpected stage for political jabs Monday evening, as former President Trump addressed franchise owners and executives.
Trump seized the opportunity to revisit a running theme of his recent appearances: his brief stint as a McDonald’s fry cook. He framed it as a pointed contrast to claims made by his political opponent, Kamala Harris, regarding her own past employment at the fast-food chain.
The former President recounted his October 2024 visit to a McDonald’s drive-thru in Trevose, Pennsylvania, where he donned an apron and playfully announced, “Hello, everybody. It’s my first day at McDonald’s! I’m looking for a job!” The moment was captured and widely circulated.
“I’ve now worked for 15 minutes more than Kamala at McDonald’s,” Trump declared, a remark intended to highlight what he characterized as inconsistencies in Harris’s narrative. Her campaign had previously referenced a period of employment at a McDonald’s during her college years.
However, records have proven elusive. Despite Harris’s assertions of working at a McDonald’s in Alameda, California, no official documentation supports her claim. Internal inquiries within the company have yielded no confirmation of her employment.
Reviving the joke at the summit, Trump proclaimed himself “the very first former McDonald’s fry cook ever to become President of the United States,” drawing cheers from the audience. He then added, “And I actually was there for about 30 minutes, and that was 30 minutes longer than Kamala was there, despite her job at McDonald’s. That didn’t work out too well.”
Beyond the playful political sparring, Trump also addressed economic matters. He touted his administration’s past successes, asserting, “Nobody has done what we’ve done in terms of pricing.”
He contrasted his record with that of his successor, stating they “took over a mess,” and expressed confidence in the current economic trajectory. “Now we have normal inflation,” he said, adding, “We’re going to get it a little bit lower, frankly. We have it almost at the sweet spot. And prices are coming down on different things.”
The evening underscored a willingness to engage with audiences through unexpected avenues, blending personal anecdotes with broader economic commentary in a setting far removed from traditional political rallies.
