Trump To Address McDonald’s Franchise Owners As He Focuses On Driving Down Food Costs

As President Donald Trump focuses his energy on bringing food costs back down, he’s taking his messaging to the people who serve food to millions of Americans for a living each day: McDonald’s franchise owners, operators, and suppliers.

Trump is set to address an audience of McDonald’s franchisees in Washington, D.C., on Monday evening as the White House does a full-court press on economic issues, Axios reported.

“The Biden administration started the affordability crisis, but President Trump will end it so all Americans can achieve economic prosperity,” a White House official told Axios.

Trump is scheduled to speak at 6:00 p.m. ET. The “Impact Summit” will also feature a slate of Democratic speakers, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. It’s a venue where Republicans and the Trump administration want to make their presence known as the economy comes back to the forefront of the political conversation.

The summit will give Trump a chance to double down on his administration’s efforts to address the economy and food prices. McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski warned earlier this month that inflation was continuing to place “pressure on the industry.”

“It’s still a difficult environment, and inflation is proving to be sticky,” Kempczinski said, according to Fox Business. “I mean, we’re expecting to see there’s going to be above-average inflation next year. … We’re seeing very, very high inflation around beef prices versus what we’re used to historically, and so I think all of that just keeps putting pressure on the industry.”

McDonald’s executives have said that higher overhead costs have forced the company to raise prices, which has driven away many low-income customers.

Year-over-year inflation has gone down from where it stood during most of former President Joe Biden’s term, but has hovered around 3% during the first eight months of Trump’s second term. McDonald’s prices have also risen in recent months, with the average price of the chain’s signature Big Mac jumping to $6.01 as of July, which was up from $5.69 at the same time last year, according to The Economist’s “Big Mac Index.”

Ground beef, overall, has risen 13.5% from last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Trump has argued that high food prices are leftover effects from the Biden administration, which saw inflation rise to 9.1% in June 2022.

The Trump administration has taken more steps recently to address high prices and point out where prices have fallen.

“Since Day One, the Trump Administration has been on a mission to tame Biden’s inflation crisis, stop the sky-high Biden price increases, and lower costs for everyday families — and while it can’t happen overnight, evidence shows the trend is in the right direction,” the White House said on Friday.

Trump also removed tariffs on hundreds of food imports on Friday, marking a major pivot in the president’s trade strategy. Trump’s tariff rollback is aimed at lowering prices for Americans and will apply to food items that are not grown or produced in the United States in “sufficient quantities,” including beef, coffee, tea, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, and tropical fruits and fruit juices.

McDonald’s is a personal favorite of Trump’s. The president made a pit stop at a McDonald’s location in Pennsylvania during the 2024 campaign, where he ran the fry cooker and served food to customers. He has also served McDonald’s food to special guests in the White House.