Last month's $2 trillion bailout bill barred President Donald Trump, his family or other officials from benefiting from one of the law's giant loan programs. But as reporters noticed, there was no such language included for other elements of the bailout. Some provisions of the bailout are particularly beneficial to businesses like Trump's.
There is no evidence that any provisions in the bailout were written specifically to benefit the president. It's also not known whether the Trumps will seek such aid. We asked the Trump Organization and White House about whether the company plans to apply for bailout loans. They did not respond.
The president has said it's not clear to him even how his company could benefit.
"I mean, I just don't know what the government assistance would be for what I have," he said in a recent White House briefing.
We had the same question: What are the ways the Trump Organization could benefit from the bailout?
So we've dug into it.
First, at least four of Trump's hotels each seem to qualify for a separate, forgivable loan…
The bailout has a huge loan program to help many businesses with payroll and other costs. While it's only open to smaller companies, there's a carveout for hotels: As The New York Times reported, the law says individual hotels can each qualify for separate loans, even if they're all owned by a single company, so long as the hotel itself has 500 or fewer employees.
The provision was pushed by a hotel industry group, which argued it was needed for 33,000 hotels to qualify for the bailout. The group, of which some Trump hotels are members, organized a meeting between hotel CEOs and Vice President Mike Pence in mid-March to discuss the industry's struggles and ask for help.
Each small business — and each hotel — can qualify for up to $10 million in loans, depending on payroll costs. The loans can then be forgiven if the money is used to cover payrolls and other ongoing expenses.
Four Trump hotels appear to qualify: two that Trump owns and two that his company manages.
Representatives at the four hotels did not respond to our questions about staff size or whether they plan to apply for loans through the small business loan program. The four hotels are:
The Trump International Hotel — Washington, D.C.
The general manager of the hotel, which the president owns, said in a 2018 interview about 450 people work there. (The interview was first flagged by the 1100 Pennsylvania newsletter.) The hotel's company page on LinkedIn also lists the staff size as between 201 and 500.
Companies getting the loans must make a "good faith certification" that they need the funds to continue operating. Occupancy rates at Trump's D.C. hotel dropped to as low as 5% at the end of March. Trump borrowed $170 million from Deutsche Bank to finance the hotel's renovation, one of several loans with the bank he personally guaranteed.
Albemarle Estate at Trump Winery — Charlottesville, Virginia
Trump once boasted that his Charlottesville winery was the largest on the East Coast. It's not. The property also includes a 10-room hotel that the general manager describes as having under 100 employees.
The Trump International Hotel and Tower — New York
The Trump Organization manages this hotel. Industry groups are still seeking clarification on who the eligible borrower is when a hotel is owned and managed by separate companies, a common business structure in the hotel industry. We talked to industry experts who said their understanding is hotel management companies can apply for the small business loans if they're the ones who employ the staff.
Trump's New York hotel reports a staff size between 201 and 500 on its LinkedIn company page.
The Trump International Hotel and Tower — Chicago
The Chicago tower is another Trump-branded hotel managed by the Trump Organization. It has a staff size of 450, according to the LinkedIn profile of the hotel's managing director.
No, Mar-a-Lago does not appear to qualify for bailout money…
As a private club, and not a hotel, Mar-a-Lago could only get bailout money if the company that owns it — the Trump Organization — had fewer than 500 employees across all affiliated companies. Trump's company has more employees than that. For the same reason, Trump's golf courses don't appear to qualify. Nor do a number of larger hotels his company operates, including the Trump National Doral and the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas.
So what could be problematic about the president's company getting money from a bill the president signed?
Like others in the hotel industry, Trump's business has been pummeled by the pandemic. And as the president has noted: "Everybody knew I had hotels when I got elected. They knew I was a successful person when I got elected, so it's one of those things."
But Jennifer Ahearn, policy director at the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, points out that while every qualifying business has the opportunity to apply for the loans, not every business is owned by the president of the United States.
"If you have a situation where more than one eligible company is applying and you have to decide between and among them, that's one thing that is certainly a concerning question," she said in an interview. "Is the president's business going to be receiving special treatment?"
Another question: What does oversight look like? The issue "is not just, 'Will they receive the loans?'" Ahearn said, "but if they were to not comply with the terms of a loan or a grant, what would happen in that circumstance, and who would be making the decision about what to do about that?"
On Tuesday, the president sacked and replaced the federal watchdog who was supposed to oversee the bailout.
The government agency running the program — the Small Business Administration — has not yet laid out what kind of information it will collect about businesses that receive loans and loan forgiveness, and whether that information will be publicly available.
The Small Business Administration did not respond to our questions about how oversight over the loan program will work.
Trump does have a record of availing himself of federal help meant for small businesses. After 9/11, his company applied for a program meant to help small businesses in lower Manhattan recover after the attacks.
The Trump Organization, which by then owned luxury real estate around the country, applied for the grant through a limited liability company that owned Trump's Wall Street highrise. The company received a $150,000 grant.
The bailout also makes it easier for Trump's lenders to give the president a break...
Another aspect of the bailout encourages banks to help borrowers avoid default.
Banks — say, Deutsche Bank — usually have to take special care with loans that are turning sour. They are required to keep more money on hand, for example. The bailout temporarily lifts those requirements for many loans.
Banks are supposed to collect data on the loans they modify under this provision, but it's unclear exactly what they will be required to report publicly.
The Times reported that the Trump Organization last month reached out to Deutsche Bank, one of its biggest lenders, to talk about postponing payments on some of its loans. The bank required that Trump personally guarantee some of those loans due to his problematic credit record. The Times noted that bank "executives have been fretting about what would happen if he were to default."
Trump has done that before with Deutsche. When the housing market crashed in 2008, Trump defaulted on a $640 million loan for his Chicago tower. He sued the bank, citing force majeure — an act of god — and claiming $3 billion in damages caused by its role in the financial crisis. The bank counter-sued, and the two parties reached a settlement.
Deutsche Bank declined to comment about its plans for how it will handle troubled loans.
Then there are tax breaks…
One of the biggest tax benefits appears to be a provision highlighted by the Times that makes it easier for owners of hotels, restaurants and supermarkets to lower their tax bills. Since the president's company is privately owned, we may never never know if it has taken advantage of the new tax benefits.
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Why do some folks use social media but don't engage?
Psychologist says people who never comment on social media share these 5 positive traits
For over 20 years, social media has developed into a staple in many people’s day-to-day lives. Whether it’s to keep in communication with friends and family, following the thoughts of celebrities, or watching cat videos while sipping your morning coffee, there seem to be two types of social media users: commenters and lurkers.
The term “lurker” sounds equally mysterious and insidious, with some social media users writing them off as non-participants at best or voyeurs at worst. However, mindfulness expert Lachlan Brown believes these non-commenters have some very psychologically positive and healthy traits. Let’s take a look at how each one of these traits could be beneficial and see how fruitful lurking might be even though it can drive content creators crazy.
1. Cautious about vulnerability
Consciously or not, making a post online or commenting on one puts you and your words out there. It’s a statement that everyone can see, even if it’s as simple as clicking “like.” Doing so opens yourself up to judgment, with all the good, bad, and potential misinterpretation that comes with it. Non-commenters would rather not open themselves up to that.
These silent users are connected to a concept of self-protection by simply not engaging. By just scrolling past posts or just reading/watching them without commentary, they’re preventing themselves from any downsides of sharing an opinion such as rejection, misunderstanding, or embarrassment. They also have more control on how much of themselves they’re willing to reveal to the general public, and tend to be more open face-to-face or during one-on-one/one-on-few private chats or DMs. This can be seen as a healthy boundary and prevents unnecessary exposure.
Considering many comment sections, especially involving political topics, are meant to stir negative emotional responses to increase engagement, being extra mindful about where, when, and what you comment might not be a bad idea. They might not even take the engagement bait at all. Or if they see a friend of theirs post something vulnerable, they feel more motivated to engage with them personally one-on-one rather than use social media to publicly check in on them.
2. Analytical and reflective mindset
How many times have you gone onto Reddit, YouTube, or any other site and just skimmed past comments that are just different versions of “yes, and,” “no, but,” or “yes, but”? Or the ever insightful, formerly popular comment “First!” in a thread? These silent browsers lean against adding to such noise unless they have some valid and thoughtful contribution (if they bother to comment period).
These non-posters are likely wired on reflective thinking rather than their initial intuition. Not to say that all those who comment aren’t thoughtful, but many tend to react quickly and comment based on their initial feelings rather than absorbing the information, thinking it over, researching or testing their belief, and then posting it. For "lurkers," it could by their very nature to just do all of that and not post it at all, or share their thoughts and findings privately with a friend. All in all, it’s a preference of substance over speed.
3. High sense of self-awareness
Carried over from the first two listed traits, these silent social media users incorporate their concern over their vulnerability and their reflective mindset into digital self-awareness. They know what triggers responses out of them and what causes them to engage in impulsive behavior. It could be that they have engaged with a troll in the past and felt foolish. Or that they just felt sad after a post or got into an unnecessary argument that impacted them offline. By knowing themselves and seeing what’s being discussed, they choose to weigh their words carefully or just not participate at all. It’s a form of self-preservation through restraint.
4. Prefer to observe rather than perform
Some folks treat social media as information, entertainment, or a mix of both, and commenting can feel like they’re yelling at the TV, clapping alone in a movie theater when the credits roll, or yelling “That’s not true!” to a news anchor that will never hear them. But contrary to that, social media is a place where those yells, claps, and accusations can be seen and get a response. By its design, social media is considered by experts and the media as performative, regardless of whether it is positive or negative. Taking all of the previously mentioned traits into account, one can see why they would prefer to “observe the play” rather than get up on the stage of Facebook or X.
On top of that, these non-commenters could be using social media differently than those who choose to fully engage with it. Using this type of navigation, there may be nothing for them to comment about. Some commenters are even vying for this for their mental health. There are articles about how to better curate your social media feeds and manipulate algorithms to create a better social media experience to avoid unnecessary conflict or mentally tiring debate.
If you go on a blocking spree on all of your accounts and just follow the posters that boost you, it could turn your social media into a nice part of your routine as you mainly engage with others face-to-face or privately. In terms of commenting, if your curated Instagram is just following cute dogs and all you have to offer for a comment is “cute dog,” you might just enjoy the picture and then move on with your day rather than join in the noise. These non-commenters aren’t in the show and they’re fine with it.
5. Less motivated by social validation
The last trait that Brown showcases is that social media users who browse without posting tend to be independent from external validation, at least online. Social media is built to grow through feedback loops such as awarding likes, shares, and reposts of your content along with notifications letting you know that a new person follows you or wants to connect. This can lead many people to connect their activity on social media with their sense of self worth, especially with adolescents who are still figuring out their place in the world and have still-developing brains.
Engaging in social media via likes, shares, comments, and posts rewards our brains by having them release dopamine, which makes us feel good and can easily become addictive. For whatever reason, non-commenters don’t rely on social media as a means to gauge their social capital or self worth. This doesn’t make them better than those who do. While some non-commenters could have healthier ways to boost their self worth or release dopamine into their systems, many get that validation from equally unhealthy sources offline. That said, many non-commenters’ silence could be a display of independence and self confidence.
Whether you frequently comment online or don’t, it’s good to understand why you do or don’t. Analyzing your habits can help you determine whether your online engagement is healthy, or needs to be tweaked. With that information, you can then create a healthy social media experience that works for you.