This is an adapted excerpt from the April 14 episode of “The Briefing with Jen Psaki.”

If you needed any more evidence that Donald Trump has become an absolute parody of himself, look no further than what took place at the White House on Monday.

You may have seen images of the moment when a delivery driver showed up at the door of the Oval Office with the president’s McDonald’s order and praised him for the no-tax-on-tips policy that passed as part of his budget bill last year.

President Trump just received a McDonald’s delivery order from a DoorDash driver outside the Oval Office!

Thanks to President Trump signing No Tax on Tips into law, Sharron is using the $11,000 in tips that she made last year to support her family.

pic.twitter.com/5JkpJo839k

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) April 13, 2026

The White House clearly wanted to portray the scene as a chance encounter, as if Trump was just a regular guy waiting for his french fries — never mind the armed Secret Service agents or guarded gates this delivery driver somehow skipped through.

But, as you probably suspected, the whole thing was an attempt at a PR stunt.

The woman who showed up at the door of the Oval Office was not your average DoorDash driver — she was actually flown in from Arkansas. And prior to making that 900-mile delivery order, she appeared as a witness at Republican field hearings touting the president’s big, ugly bill. She also appeared in promotional videos put out by congressional Republicans supporting that bill.

But even though this entire event was staged, Trump still somehow found a way to make it incredibly awkward.

After the woman delivered Trump his food, he asked if she would like to “do a little news conference” with him, during which he asked her what she thought about “men playing women’s sports. The delivery driver told the president, “I really don’t have an opinion on that.”

In another bizarre moment, Trump also asked her if she voted for him, to which she replied, “Uh, maybe.”

This woman was just flown in from Arkansas for an event for the press on behalf of Trump and she wouldn’t even say if she voted for him.

Later, the DoorDash worker did acknowledge one issue that’s hurting millions of Americans right now: the rising price of gas.

When reporters caught up with the woman as she was leaving, she said the cost of gas obviously has had an impact on her, like everyone else.

And that’s becoming a far bigger — and more immediate — problem for Trump and his administration than pulling off a little McDonald’s delivery stunt.

They don’t have a plan, and they don’t have a clear message.

During an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Trump’s perpetually optimistic economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, spoke about how the situation in Iran will affect inflation.

“Imagine if oil prices start going back down because the situation resolves itself somehow, then you could be looking at an inflation close to zero,” he said.

Just imagine — if the situation resolves itself, inflation could be close to zero. This economy is really humming as long as you can just imagine away the problems Trump created by starting this war.

No wonder Hassett is always smiling: In his head, problems just solve themselves.

As much as those around the president attempt to paint a rosy picture of the U.S. economy, it seems Trump himself has stopped trying. 

But that was nothing compared with how Trump’s energy secretary, Chris Wright, tried to explain the administration’s agenda.

“Just because it looks like we’re going in the wrong direction doesn’t mean that’s the direction we are going,” Wright said at an event in Brooklyn on Tuesday.

Is that a Dr. Seuss quote? Is it a riddle we are supposed to solve?

But here’s the thing: As much as those around the president attempt to paint a rosy picture of the U.S. economy, it seems Trump himself has stopped trying.

The guy who repeatedly promised that gas prices would drop as soon as his little “excursion” in Iran was over is now saying the opposite — that they could go higher.

When Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo asked Trump whether he believed the price of oil and gas would be lower before the midterm elections, the president replied, “I hope so. I mean, I think so. It could be. It could be the same, or maybe a little bit higher.”

Trump’s costly war is already a huge albatross around the necks of Republicans trying to get re-elected this year. In swing districts, GOP lawmakers are already feeling the backlash from their constituents. During a recent town hall, Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., was booed and heckled as he tried to defend Trump’s war with Iran.

It’s clear that voters are already fed up with his policy decisions. Across the country, Republicans have lost support from the voters in the places they need them most.

It’s almost like Trump is actively trying to lose the midterms and make life hell for Republicans like Lawler.

Allison Detzel contributed.

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