Trump Let Down Small Business Owners

Small business owner Tanya Weinreis just spoke at the RNC, claiming that Trump looked out for her small business.

What she didn’t say: Trump botched the rollout of Congress’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and put in place shifting rules and guidelines that prevented small businesses from getting the aid they needed. Instead, billions went to big corporations, Chinese companies, and his donors.

Trump mismanaged the rollout of the PPP, delaying assistance to small businesses.

CNN: “Technical issues plagued the second round of emergency funding for small businesses that opened Monday, with users reporting error messages and slow processing.  The problems mirrored the initial rollout of the Paycheck Protection Program earlier this month, which was plagued by technical hiccups and questions about if lenders were prioritizing the businesses that needed the money most.”

Trump’s rules for the Paycheck Protection Program prevented many small firms and minority-owned businesses from getting help.

Bloomberg: “It’s the latest change to constantly shifting rules governing the PPP program, which have frustrated banks and business owners alike — in particular after a loophole allowed big restaurant chains and hotel groups, among other large companies, to rake in millions in low-interest loans while mom and pop shops couldn’t access the program.”

Politico: “The government watchdog responsible for policing the Small Business Administration warned in a report Friday that the agency’s restrictions on emergency small business loans may hurt tens of thousands of borrowers.”

Trump’s administration failed to implement the CARES Act requirement to help minority-owned small businesses get the relief they needed.

NPR: “But a new report from the Small Business Administration’s inspector general found that businesses owned by people of color may not have received loans as intended under the Paycheck Protection Program. There was no evidence, the report said, that the SBA told lenders to prioritize business owners in ‘underserved’ markets, including business owners of color — something the CARES Act had specifically instructed the SBA to do.”

New York Times: “Few Minority-Owned Businesses Got Relief Loans They Asked For”

Trump let PPP funds meant for small businesses go to large corporations, Chinese firms, and companies owned by his donors and allies.

Washington Post: “Public companies received $1 billion in stimulus funds meant for small businesses”

New York Times: “Millions of dollars of American taxpayer money have flowed to China from the $660 billion Paycheck Protection Program that was created in March to be a lifeline for struggling small businesses in the United States.”

CNBC: “Companies with Trump ties got coronavirus small business loans”

Now, more than 100,000 small businesses have shut their doors for good, and millions more are at risk of having to do the same—but Trump failed to provide more relief.

Spectrum News 1: “While the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports 79-percent of small businesses are at least partially back open, recent studies estimate 110,000 have permanently closed since the pandemic started, and an estimated 7.5 million are at risk.”

New York Times: “The federal government’s aid to small businesses through the Payroll Protection Program was set to expire on Saturday. Executives, trade groups and business lobbyists had pushed hard for a second round of lending — along with new programs to get money to the businesses and industries hit hardest in the crisis — to be included in any congressional stimulus deal. Mr. Trump’s actions do nothing to help those companies.”