During Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, his supporters repeatedly praised him as “pro-business” and argued that he understood the challenges small businesses face. But almost 18 months into Trump’s second presidency, according to New York Times reporter Sydney Ember, small business owners are feeling increasingly frustrated and pessimistic.
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“The months-long war with Iran pushed up the cost of fuel and other materials,” Ember reports in the Times. “Inflation has accelerated. The prospect of further interest rate cuts before the end of the year is dimming. Even as large corporations are posting solid earnings and the stock market is booming, small-business sentiment has plummeted in recent months. Lacking the funds to withstand an onslaught of financial gyrations, many smaller companies are instead rethinking their hiring and pausing any plans to expand — again.”
The Times reporter continues, “The National Federation of Independent Business reported, in May, its lowest measure of economic expectations since Mr. Trump was elected to his second term. The Bank of America Institute reported that small-business profitability in April grew at its slowest pace in two years. Job openings at small companies have flatlined. On Sunday, Mr. Trump and Iranian officials announced a preliminary deal to end the war, though the economic consequences will probably linger for some time.”
Small business owners interviewed by the Times detailed the reason for their frustration.
Bruce Jovaag, who owns a home remodeling company in Missouri, told the Times, “It has been an incredible challenge for a small mom-and-pop operation to just simply keep the doors open. It has been a fight like has never existed before.”
According to Jovaag, a series of economic challenges since the COVID-10 pandemic have “taken the enjoyment out of what I do for a living.”
Trump’s policies, Ember notes, are creating a variety of headaches for small business owners —from tariffs to “soaring gas prices” to interruptions with immigrant labor.
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Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Georgia), a Trump ally who now heads the Small Business Association, claimed that “America First policies are restoring the American dream on Main Street to new heights.” But according to Ember, “That hasn’t been the reality for the small-business owners who are still reeling from years of challenges.”
“The persistent pressure has pushed some small businesses to the brink,” Ember reports. “Businesses with fewer than 10 workers have broadly been shedding employees for much of the past five years, according to data from QuickBooks, the accounting software company.”
Edith Hotchkiss, a finance professor at Boston College, told the Times that the number of small businesses declaring bankruptcy increased after the Trump administration imposed new import duties.
According to Hotchkiss, “Prices are higher, and these small businesses don’t have the flexibility that larger firms do. They don’t have the existing inventories that larger firms might have. It’s only natural that these would be maybe the most vulnerable.”
Francesca Costa, who co-owns the Houston, Texas café Cranky Carrot Juice, told the Times that increasing overhead has forced her to raise her prices. But is reluctant to do so again, as consumers are cutting back on discretionary spending.
Costa lamented, “We are very worried. It is a very real possibility that we could also have to close.”
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