WASHINGTON, D.C. – November 17, 2025 –
President Donald Trump addressed McDonald’s franchise owners, operators, and suppliers at the company’s bipartisan Impact Summit on Monday evening, emphasizing his administration’s economic achievements and ongoing efforts to boost employment and wages for American workers.
Standing behind a podium bearing the Seal of the President of the United States against a backdrop featuring McDonald’s branding and slogans like “Nationally Loved” and “Locally Owned,” Trump declared that significant progress has been made since he took office in January 2025.
“There’s still a lot of work to do—and we’re making tremendous progress,” the President said. “1.9 million more American-born workers are employed today than when I took office… Wages for hourly workers are rising at the fastest pace in 60 years.”
The remarks, shared via a video clip by the official White House Rapid Response account on X (formerly Twitter), come amid the administration’s intensified focus on affordability and cost-of-living issues. The summit, hosted in Washington, D.C., highlighted value meals and economic pressures facing consumers and small businesses, with McDonald’s co-investing in affordability initiatives alongside its franchisees.
Trump’s appearance at the event echoes his 2024 campaign stunt, when he famously worked a shift at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, serving fries and drive-thru customers—a move that went viral and underscored his appeal to working-class voters.
The President also touted broader economic policies, including tax cuts from the recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill,” such as no tax on tips, expanded deductions, and relief for overtime pay and Social Security beneficiaries. Sources close to the White House described the speech as part of a push to “end the affordability crisis” inherited from the previous administration.
The McDonald’s Impact Summit featured a mix of Republican and Democratic speakers, underscoring its bipartisan nature, though Trump’s address drew particular attention for its focus on prioritizing American-born workers in the labor market—a key theme of his America First agenda.
As of November 2025, early data from Trump’s second term shows cooling inflation and job growth, though critics continue to debate the pace of recovery for low- and middle-income households still feeling the effects of post-pandemic price increases.
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