Truth behind Donald Trump working at McDonald’s drive-through revealed

Donald Trump has gone viral for popping up at a McDonald’s to cook fries and appear at the drive-through – but not all was as it appeared.

Serving fries at McDonald’s isn’t usually how a former president would spend a weekend.

But Donald Trump couldn’t turn down a good photo opportunity in the lead-up to the US presidential election on November 5.

While fans and election-watchers were thrilled to see the Republican candidate don an apron and get to work, the campaign stop wasn’t exactly as it first appeared.

As Mr Trump walked over to the drive-through window at the Pennsylvania fast-food restaurant to deliver an apparent customer some fries, he exclaimed: “Would you believe this? He’s a MAGA guy all the way.”

It turns out the chances of that were pretty high.

The McDonald’s restaurant was actually closed to the public, and he wasn’t involved in a normal day of service at all.

The customers Mr Trump served were pre-screened by US Secret Service and pre-positioned, according to The Washington Post, which also reported attendees did not place an order and instead just accepted whatever Mr Trump gave them.

A sign had been put up at the franchise informing locals that the restaurant would be closed until 4pm, and apologising for the inconvenience.

The note said that while the business was “not a political organisation,” it would “proudly open our doors to everyone” and wanted to use the opportunity to “shine a light on the positive impact of small businesses here in Feasterville”.

Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump works a staged drive-through line at a McDonald's restaurant in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania. Picture: Win McNamee/Getty Images/AFP

Mr Trump, 78, survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in the same state three months ago, which has put the Secret Service under intense scrutiny.

Last month a different man was arrested near Mr Trump’s Florida golf course and charged with another attempted assassination of the former US president.

A third man was arrested near a Trump rally in California last week, with police saying they may have thwarted a third assassination attempt, though the suspect later insisted he was actually a Trump supporter.

A sign seen at the McDonald’s informing customers the restaurant would be closed during Mr Trump’s visit.

Mr Trump wore a yellow-and-black apron over his trademark white shirt and red tie during his photo op at McDonald’s.

“I don’t mind this job,” he said at one point.

It appeared that, in addition to trying to appeal to working-class voters, the appearance was used to troll his opponent Kamala Harris, whom Mr Trump says never worked at McDonald’s despite her previous claims to have done so.

Ms Harris has said she worked on the register and fries station, which is where Mr Trump chose to be for his brief visit.

“Now I’ve worked for 15 minutes more than Kamala. She never worked here,” he told reporters gathered in front of the drive-through window.

The ‘customers’ were pre-screened and pre-positioned, and did not actually place an order, media reported. Picture: Win McNamee/Getty Images/AFP

The motorcade for Mr Trump’s McDonald’s visit on October 20, 2024. Picture: Win McNamee/Getty Images/AFP

In a video posted on his TikTok account, Mr Trump said he “always wanted to work at McDonald’s” and was running against someone with a “phony story” who said she had.

The video was captioned: “I’ve officially worked longer at McDonald’s than Kamala.”

Joseph Costello, a spokesman for Ms Harris, said: “Trump doesn’t understand what it’s like to work for a living, no matter how many staged photo ops he does, and his entire second term plan is to give himself, his wealthy buddies, and giant corporations another massive tax cut.”

The race between Ms Harris and Mr Trump remains tight.

Ms Harris has a narrow lead in national polling averages, however, Mr Trump has a small lead over the vice president in Pennsylvania.

Nationally, in the most recent polls, TIPP had Mr Trump with a two-point lead on Sunday, Atlas Intel had Mr Trump with a three-point lead on Saturday, and on Friday, Emerson had Ms Harris with a one-point lead and HarrisX had Ms Harris with a two-point lead, while Rasmussen Reports had Mr Trump with a two-point lead.