Sharon Simmons, the “MAGA grandma” who delivered a McDonald’s package to Trump at the White House on Monday, flew in from Arkansas to take part in the photo.
President Donald Trump sparked a major controversy over receiving a DoorDash delivery at the White House from Sharon Simons, a known MAGA supporter, as nothing more than a PR ploy. A grandmother of 10, Simmons has completed more than 14,000 deliveries and has been working with DoorDash since 2022. But it’s unclear why the 58-year-old Simmons flew in from Arkansas and why a local DoorDasher wasn’t chosen for the job.Trump reportedly tipped Simmons $100 on Monday after he handed him two bags of McDonald’s. As she stood next to him at a news conference, he asked her if she supported transgender athletes in women’s sports.“I really don’t have a problem with that,” Simmons responded. “I’m here so tips are not taxed.”Trump asked her if she would vote for him, but her response was noncommittal as she said “maybe.” But she is a well-known face as she has appeared in different videos with MAGA leaders. Republican Rep. David Kustoff posted about Simmons’ remarks at a Nevada Ways and Means Committee live hearing on July 28, 2025, saying she shared how “a big, beautiful bill” would “truly change her life.”Simmons’ husband was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer in early 2025, and Trump asked her about her husband’s battle with cancer during a photo shoot. Simmons said she wanted to thank the DoorDash family for allowing her to meet with Trump. “They called me and asked me if I would do it… and I said sure.”DoorDash said this was clearly a planned event and no one is claiming otherwise. “No one is claiming this was an actual delivery,” Julian Crowley, public affairs officer for DoorDash, said in a post on X. “This was clearly a planned event to mark the start of a new policy. Claims that Sharon was a prop, plant or actor are completely false and unfounded. She is a Dasher and she participated to support policies that would benefit her.” Max Rettig, DoorDash’s director of global public policy, said in a statement that Monday’s delivery “represents something bigger than a single delivery” and that Dashers across the country collectively saved “hundreds of millions of dollars” under last year’s no-tip tax policy.
