Trump addresses Iran war over McDonald's in bizarre publicity stunt

Donald Trump used DoorDash to deliver his ‘favourite’ McDonald’s menu items to the Oval Office amid Iran conflict updates, an attack on Pope Leo XIV, and the upcoming UFC fight at the White House.

The 79-year-old US President has a long-running affiliation with McDonald’s, having previously served customers on his 2024 Presidential Election campaign trail at a restaurant in Feasterville-Trevose, and more recently ordering it in to celebrate the US Men’s ice hockey team’s gold Olympic medal.

According to one of his former top aides, Corey Lewandowski, he is partial to a Big Mac, a Fillet-O-Fish, and a chocolate malted milkshake.

DoorDash delivers McDonalds to the Oval Office

On Monday (13 April), the Republican once again showed his adoration for the fast-food giant by ordering two bags of goodies to the White House via DoorDash in a bizzarre stunt.

According to the American food-ordering platform, the order was the first-ever delivery inside the Oval Office.

The delivery driver, who was wearing a ‘DoorDash Grandma’ shirt, was Sharon Simmons, who could be heard saying that the items in the brown McDelivery bags were Trump’s ‘favourite’.

The Arkansas native also thanked the father-of-five for his ‘no tax on tips’ policy, previously outlined in his ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’.

"It's good. It has helped my family out immensely and I definitely appreciate it,” she said.

According to ABC News, she was asked if Trump was a good tipper, which prompted him to pull out a $100 bill.

The President asked after Simmons’ husband, who had cancer, and invited them both to the UFC Freedom 250 fight, scheduled for Sunday 14 June.

The mixed martial arts event has been planned to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States and was announced by Trump at a July 2025 rally in Iowa.

Speaking to DoorDash, Simmons said that it was an ‘incredible honour’ to represent her employer at the White House.

“Thanks to DoorDash, I have been able to provide for my family while keeping the schedule that works best for me, something I never thought would be possible,” she continued.

“Now No Tax on Tips has taken things to the next level, letting me keep more of the tips I earn and deserve.”

In a McDonald’s update, Steven Cheung, White House communications director, shared an image of a half-eaten cheeseburger to X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Couldn’t wait. Had to dig in,” he commented.

Trump criticises Pope Leo XIV

After securing his McDonald’s order, Trump took questions from the press for 15 minutes, addressing both the Iran war and his personal feelings on Pope Leo XIV.

Following comments made about the pontiff online, including allegations that he was ‘weak on crime and terrible for Foreign Policy’, the politiican claimed: ““I don't think he's doing a very good job, he likes crime, I guess."

Trump added: "He's a very liberal person, and he's a man who doesn't believe in stopping crime, he's a man who doesn't believe we should be toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon so they can blow up the world."

The BBC reported that Pope Leo XIV said he didn’t ‘fear’ the Trump administration and he didn’t ‘want to get into a debate’ with the US leader.

“Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say: there's a better way to do this,” the 70-year-old added.

President discusses Iran negotiation ‘sticking point’

When asked about the current state of the US-Iran negotiations, Trump told reporters that the talks were ongoing and that the ‘sticking point’ centred around Iran’s future nuclear ambitions.

"[The sticking point] was over nuclear, yeah [...] Iran will not have a nuclear weapon,” he proclaimed.

“And we agreed to a lot of things but they didn't agree to that. And I think they will agree to it, I'm almost sure of it. In fact I am sure of it, if they don't agree there's no deal, there will never be a deal. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And we'll get the dust back. We'll get it back either way; we'll get it back from them, or we'll take it.”

According to The Independent, the ‘dust’ that the businessman referred to was Iran’s remaining supply of enriched uranium, much or all of which is believed to be buried under rock and earth as a result of US strikes.

The United States and Israel came to a temporary ceasefire agreement with Iran earlier this month (7 April).

Writing via his social media site, Truth Social, Trump said the two-week ceasfire was a ‘big day for World Peace’.

“Iran wants it to happen, they’ve had enough! Likewise, so has everyone else!,” he claimed.

He confirmed that the United States had received a 10-point conditional ceasefire proposal from Iran, described as a ‘workable basis on which to negotiate’.

Alongside a ‘withdrawal of US combat forces from the region’, Islam outlined that it wanted to continue its control over the Strait of Hormuz and that all primary and secondary sanctions should be lifted.