What you need to know
President Donald Trump claims he once fed Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a McDonald’s Big Mac.
In the president’s address to McDonald’s franchise owners in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Nov. 17, he said he was one of the fast food chain’s “most loyal customers in history.”
“Other politicians are flying around on campaign planes loaded with expensive catering,” Trump, 79, said at the McDonald’s Impact Summit 2025. “When Trump Force One was flying during the campaign, before being upgraded to Air Force One, we were served only McDonald’s almost every time. Sometimes we couldn’t find McDonald’s, which is pretty hard to believe, but it happened.”
“You fed us so well, you fed Bobby Kennedy a Big Mac,” Trump said. “He told me he liked it.”
President Kennedy, 71, did not approve of President Trump’s Capitol visit. Days after the 2024 presidential election, Kennedy compared the food Trump served at Trump Force One to poison in an interview with podcaster Joe Polish.
“The food he eats is really bad,” Kennedy told Polish. “Campaign food is always bad, but the food on that plane is like poison. You have a choice, but you don’t have a choice, they give you KFC or a Big Mac. If you’re lucky, then you eat something else you don’t think I can eat.”
But days after that interview, Kennedy posed with Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Elon Musk and Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Force One, with a table full of McDonald’s fast food. Kennedy himself held up a box of Big Macs and placed a bottle of Coca-Cola next to his meal.
Win McNamee/Getty
According to Trump Jr., Kennedy did eat McDonald’s food when that photo was taken.
“Bobby did eat McDonald’s,” Trump Jr., 47, told the late Charlie Kirk on a November podcast episode, according to the New York Times. “We definitely enjoyed it.”
Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty
In his Senate confirmation testimony in late January, Kennedy said he had no intention of “taking food away from anyone,” noting in particular how much President Trump loves McDonald’s.
“If you like… you should be able to get a McDonald’s cheeseburger, which my boss loves, and a Diet Coke,” Kennedy said. “If you want to eat Hostess Twinkies, you should be able to, but you should be aware of the effects on your family and your health.”
