Trump Gives ‘Special Thanks’ To McDonald’s For Keeping Prices In Check Amid Soaring Food Costs

• Speaking at a McDonald’s event, President Donald Trump praised the fast-food chain for “slashing prices” and “recommitting” to affordable options.
• The Trump administration has been facing heat for surging food prices, and recently lost certain key state posts to the Democrats.
• To ease prices, Trump recently slashed tariffs on imports of over 200 food items, such as coffee and bananas, and touted other proposals.

President Donald Trump on Monday praised McDonald’s efforts to keep its fast food prices affordable, amid signs that food inflation is troubling consumers and that his administration needs to do more.

“I want to give a very special thanks to McDonald’s for slashing prices for your most popular items, bringing back Extra Value Meals,” Trump said at a gathering of McDonald’s owners, operators, and suppliers on Monday, according to Bloomberg.

“I hear you’re recommitting to the affordable options of Americans that we really know and love, all of the items that we love. And I hear that McDonald’s is playing a very big role in getting prices down for this country.”

‘Affordability’ Emerges As The Key Theme  

The Trump administration is beginning to face heat for surging food prices in the country, which many see as a consequence of his tariff policy, even though officials have downplayed the linkage. 

Democrats recently notched a series of wins in state and local races in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York, contests where voter anxiety over affordability, including soaring food costs, was a key issue. 

With “affordability” becoming a central theme, Trump appears to have reversed course lately. On Friday, he slashed duties on more than 200 imported food items, including coffee and bananas, and had earlier touted 50-year mortgages as a way to help ease monthly housing costs.

Where Are We On Inflation?

On Monday, Trump pressed that his government was making progress in containing food inflation, without offering specifics. 

“Affordable should be our word, not theirs,” he said. “Democrats get up and they talk about ‘affordability,’ ‘affordable.’ They don’t say that they had the worst inflation in history, the highest energy prices in history, everything was the worst.”

However, the most recent inflation reading from September showed that consumer prices rose 3% year over year, the highest jump since January. In recent third-quarter earnings reports, executives from top consumer packaged food companies and restaurants flagged rising costs and a pullback from low- and middle-income group consumers.

McDonald's, which has been offering Extra Value Meals starting at $5 for a year now, has admitted that low-income consumers are having to absorb "some significant inflation." 

The "Big Mac" index, a popular gauge of food prices by comparing the cost of McDonald’s double-decker hamburger across countries, showed that its average cost was $6.01 in July, up from $5.69 a year ago and $5.15 three years ago, according to Reuters.

MCD stock closed 0.7% lower on Monday. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for the ticker shifted to ‘neutral’ from ‘bearish’ the previous day.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.

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