Trump hails McDonald’s Extra Value Meals in affordability pitch

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump argued his administration was making process on lowering prices as he faces new political headwinds, pushing back on criticism from Democrats who blame his tariffs for high costs.

Trump touted economic policies he said have drawn trillions in new investments to fuel private-sector job growth and eased the raging inflation that was a political liability for his predecessor, during an address Monday to franchise owners from McDonald’s Corp.

“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 the event. “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.”

The president, whose affinity for McDonald’s is well-known, spoke of his own affection for the company, telling franchise owners he was “one of your all-time most loyal customers” and thanking them for lowering prices on some goods.

The company and its franchisees brought back Extra Value Meals at $5 and $8 price points. McDonald’s thanks to its presence across the country offers an important barometer for consumer spending, in particular with budget-sensitive consumers.

The address, though, highlighted the challenge for Trump — convincing voters his administration is making headway on the high costs that have frustrated Americans for years — even as he tries to maintain a tariff policy most mainstream economists say will worsen price growth.

“Affordable should be our word, not theirs,” Trump 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.”

Trump’s pitch came nearly two weeks after Republicans suffered prominent defeats in off-year state and local elections where affordability concerns were front and center.

In recent days, the administration has taken steps to ease price pressures, including moving to reduce tariffs on a number of food items such as beef, tomatoes, coffee, bananas, fruits, nuts and juices. The administration also announced deals with several Latin American countries aimed at lowering costs of many items not produced in significant quantities in the U.S.

Trump officials have also floated studying 50-year mortgages as a way to help ease monthly housing costs and suggested making direct $2,000 “dividend” payments from tariffs to citizens.

Still, Trump’s advisers have downplayed the impact of tariffs on prices, even as last week’s move to exempt imports of many agricultural goods from those levies appeared to be a tacit acknowledgment to some that higher duties had contributed to price growth.

Monday’s remarks are poised to be the first of many on affordability as Trump’s advisers consider taking a president who has done relatively little domestic travel so far this year on the road to promote his agenda.