Unpacking claims Trump’s ‘DoorDash Grandma’ was ‘paid actor,’ testified at previous hearing

On April 13, 2026, a woman named Sharon Simmons — dressed in a red “DoorDash Grandma” T-shirt — knocked on the Oval Office’s exterior door to deliver two bags of McDonald’s food. U.S. President Donald Trump walked out of the White House to greet her, then he looked toward photographers, reporters and videographers with a smile to sarcastically joke, “This doesn’t look staged, does it?”

After discussing how his “no taxes on tips” policy allegedly helped Simmons with her work as a delivery driver, Trump asked her, “Why don’t we have a news conference with the press?” Trump spoke to the journalists, then tipped Simmons in cash following a reporter’s question.

Following the event, online users and some news media outlets shared several claims, including that Simmons was a “maga paid prop” and “paid actor” taking part in a staged event, that she previously participated in a congressional hearing in Nevada on the topic of Trump’s budget bill, and that she misleadingly claimed to live in three states at the same time.

Snopes did not add a fact-check rating to this article due to the fact this matter involves multiple claims. While it was true that Simmons previously spoke out during a congressional hearing, claims about her being a paid actor were unsubstantiated and rumors about her claiming to live in three states at once were simply false.

A DoorDash spokesperson shared clarifying information with us about Simmons. The White House provided us with a general statement that did not address any of our questions. We also asked DoorDash and a northwest Arkansas Fox affiliate that interviewed Simmons if they could put us in contact with her.

Examining claims about ‘DoorDash Grandma’

Users’ many claims about Simmons trace back nearly one year and to the state of Nevada.

On July 25, 2025, Simmons was one of seven witnesses before a House Ways and Means Committee field hearing in Las Vegas, centered on Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” The Ways and Means Committee Republicans YouTube channel hosts a video of the full hearing.

During Simmons’ testimony, she said she had worked for DoorDash for three years in Boulder City, Nevada, and was originally from Missouri, adding that her 10 grandchildren live in the Show Me State. She also spoke about how Trump’s “no taxes on tips” — a policy in Trump’s spending bill — benefited her family, saying the savings helped with her husband’s cancer treatments. It was not clear how Simmons was chosen to participate in the hearing.

Following the White House event on April 13, DoorDash posted a video — as well as a news release (archived) — showing Simmons picking up the delivery from the McDonald’s restaurant nearest to the White House and driving a DoorDash-branded car inside the gates and up to the building. The brief clip also included Trump’s quip, “This doesn’t look staged, does it?”

Following the event, users shared screenshots (archived) and videos (archived) of Simmons’ Nevada hearing appearance to claim — without providing evidence — that she worked as a paid actor (archived, archived) for the Trump administration.

(@actingliketommy/X)

Other users falsely claimed Simmons said she simultaneously worked in Arkansas, Missouri and Nevada. Users shared a video published April 10 on Republican U.S. Rep. Jason Smith’s congressional Facebook page, without the context that Simmons said in her July 2025 testimony that before moving to Nevada she lived in Smith’s Missouri district. (Smith, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, presided over the hearing in which Simmons participated.)

DoorDash spokesperson Parker Dorrough told Snopes via email that Simmons “is not a paid actor” and that she took part in an “honorary delivery” to promote Trump’s “no taxes on tips” policy. Dourrough did not say whether Simmons was paid a specific amount for her role in the event.

Dorrough also noted Simmons moved from Nevada to Arkansas — which borders Missouri — in late 2025 to spend more time with family. Snopes did not yet independently verify this information.

Dorrough’s DoorDash statement featured further clarifying details:

At the time of the Ways and Means field hearing on NTOT, Sharon was dashing in the Las Vegas area where she lived. It is also correct that she moved to Arkansas late last year to be closer to family. Sharon is in fact a Dasher, and has completed more than 14,000 lifetime dashes. We regularly work with Dashers and merchants who want to tell their stories or make their voices heard on policy issues that matter to them. Sharon was one of more than 40,000 Dashers who advocated for the bipartisan NTOT policy.

Sharon is not a paid actor, she’s an everyday American who joined our platform because she loves the flexibility gig work offers her to earn money on her own time. And as you can imagine, no, she didn’t just show up to the White House. It was a planned moment to complete a special, honorary delivery highlighting the hundreds of thousands of people who get to keep more of the tips they earned thanks to No Tax on Tips.

A Fox TV affiliate covering northwest Arkansas reported Simmons lives in Fayetteville — a city close to the state’s border with Missouri. An anchor with the outlet added, “Sharon says DoorDash selected her for this opportunity celebrating ‘no taxes on tips’ after seeing how she handled herself in front of congressional hearings” — a reference to the Nevada hearing in July 2025.

On April 14, Simmons herself repeated some of those same details in an interview with Fox News, including saying she moved to Arkansas to spend more time with and be closer to her family. She also clarified she made more than $11,000 in tips, after telling Trump she saved over $11,000 — and after the White House incorrectly labeled the dollar figure as a “refund.”

Julian Crowley, another DoorDash spokesperson, responded on X to various claims (archived) from users. For example, in one reply, Crowley told (archived) a user, referencing Simmons, “What are you talking about? She is an everyday American. She lived in Nevada, told lawmakers there No Tax on Tips would help, moved to Arkansas, and then came to DC to do this special delivery to mark No Tax on Tips happening. You need to touch grass.”

For further reading, we previously reported about whether DoorDash shared data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to facilitate the deportation of delivery drivers.

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