Supreme Court order suspends SNAP payment funds
The Supreme Court just authorized the Trump administration to withhold $4 billion in food aid.
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President Donald Trump has never been shy about his love for McDonald’s.
Addressing the fast-food giant’s franchise owners at the McDonald’s Impact Summit in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 17, President Trump paid tribute to the Golden Arches in an effort to shore up his self-proclaimed mantle as a champion of affordability issues.
The Summit is an annual forum for McDonald’s executives, franchise owners, and other stakeholders to discuss corporate strategy.
“It’s an honor to stand before you as the first former McDonald’s fry cook to become president of the United States,” President Trump said, more than a year after wearing a yellow and blue apron and serving fries to customers at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania.
He was candidate Trump at the time. And he wanted to connect with working-class voters on issues of affordability. A year later, as Democrats swept the nation in November with a focus on affordability, Mr. Trump sought to highlight his attempts to curb inflation and emphasize his love for the working-class staple McDonald’s.
“While other politicians fly around in campaign planes loaded with expensive catering, Trump Force One (his personal plane) was on Air Force One before he got on Air Force One, which is also a very nice plane, we only served McDonald’s almost every time,” he said.
“And I once had Bobby Kennedy eat a Big Mac,” he added, referring to the health secretary and member of the Kennedy family, a prominent political family.
Even Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a “Make America Healthy Again” campaigner who shuns ultra-processed foods, liked the burger, Trump said.
“He told me he loved it,” Trump said. “He didn’t want to make it public.”
President Trump went on to emphasize efforts to eliminate various taxes, ease regulations, and increase investment to boost the economy.
“We don’t tax tips, we don’t tax overtime, we don’t tax Social Security for our great seniors,” he said, listing the tax cuts in his signature bill that Congress passed in July.
Similar to the November 5th Truth Social post, President Trump again claimed that Walmart’s 2025 Thanksgiving meal cost 25% less than in 2024.
However, a FactCheck.org analysis found that the price of Walmart’s 2025 Thanksgiving meal, which consisted of pre-selected items, was 25% lower than in 2024, but also included grocery items and a variety of food brands.
The publication says, “Comparing the same basket of products to meals in 2024, there will still be a decline in prices, but the decline will be smaller – 6.5% by our calculations.”
According to Consumer Price Index statistics, the average price of groceries in the United States in September was 2.7% higher than in September 2024 under former President Joe Biden. However, the inflation rate also reached 9.1% in June 2022 under the Biden administration, the highest in 40 years.
In 2025, overall food prices are expected to rise faster than their historical average growth rate. Prices for all foods are projected to rise 3% in 2025, according to a September forecast from the USDA Economic Research Service.
President Trump signed an executive order on Nov. 14 eliminating tariffs on products such as beef, coffee, tomatoes and oranges to address affordability concerns.
He also praised McDonald’s for “recommitting to affordable options.”
“We would like to give a special thank you to McDonald’s for reducing prices on their most popular items and bringing back Extra Value Meals,” he said.
Then he fulfilled his own wish.
“No matter who you are, everyone loves something at McDonald’s. There’s always something to eat,” he said. “I like fish, I like it. I think you could use a little more tartar sauce.”
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is USA TODAY’s White House correspondent. You can follow her at X @SwapnaVenugopal.
