A $2 trillion federal aid package aimed at helping businesses through the economic slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic has been agreed. But, Donald Trump’s hotels and golf resorts won’t receive a dime.
The package was agreed in principle by Senate Democrats but only with various caveats.
According to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, one caveat is that the President’s businesses will receive no federal bailout. He added that Democrats won ‘significant improvements’ to the bill.
One provision stops businesses:
‘controlled by the President, Vice President, Members of Congress, and heads of Executive Departments from receiving loans or investments from Treasury programs.’
Trump’s beloved Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach has closed, and various Trump hotels in Florida have closed. Other Trump hotel properties have been hit hard by the lack of guests and most of the hotels have had to lay off workers.
Other inclusions in the bill are worker protections and restrictions on stock buybacks and limits on executive bonuses for those airlines that have been bailed-out.
Trump was asked during Sunday’s White House coronavirus task force press conference if he would commit that none of the stimulus money would go toward his business.
The president bemoaned that “nobody cared or said “thank you very much” that he has forgone the president’s annual salary in excess of $400,000.
Look, I ran and everybody knew I was a rich person. I built a great company and people knew that. But I agreed to do things I didn’t have to. I still don’t have to. But my company — I told the kids, who are running it — I’m not running it. But I told them, ‘Don’t deal with foreign companies. Don’t deal…’ I didn’t have to do that. I could have just ran and I have — I didn’t have to do that at all.
“And instead of being thanked for, again, not agreeing to do, but just not doing it, I get excoriated all the time.
“So I’ve learned — let’s just see what happens because we have to save some of these great companies. They can be great companies, literally, in a matter of weeks. We have to save them.