WHITE HOUSE - President Trump was slightly delayed in arriving at his small business summit due to a shooting near the White House that briefly led to a lockdown: an armed man engaged Secret Service officers near the Washington Monument. The suspect was shot and is recovering in the hospital, but a juvenile bystander was also hit and sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
It was a lengthy event, with Pawn Stars' Rick Harrison and other guests asked to say a few words, while Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler praised the administration for distributing $45 billion to over 85,000 small businesses. The president then pointedly said that the people in the room, the small business owners and entrepreneurs, were the economic lifeblood of the American economy.
Rick Harrison (@GoldSilverPawn) speaks at the White House on National Small Business Week: "The backbone of this country is small business—plain and simple... The Big Beautiful Bill, absolutely amazing... he's going to go down as maybe the best president ever. I love this guy." pic.twitter.com/tbLcS9JPgx
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 4, 2026
.@POTUS: "We’re getting rid of 129 nonsense regulations for every new one that we pass, and thanks to these pro-growth policies, our economy is roaring, and factory construction is way up... business investment is more than triple compared to that of just a short time ago." pic.twitter.com/8xJx6LUtYa
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 4, 2026
.@POTUS details how his historic tax cut has helped American small businesses:
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 4, 2026
"We provided 100% expensing and bonus depreciation... so that businesses can deduct 100% of the cost of new facilities, equipment, and capital investment in the first year." pic.twitter.com/VK0oG0h2Zu
.@POTUS honors Mark Lamoncha, President & CEO of Humtown Products, for being named the @SBAgov National Small Business Person of the Year:
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 4, 2026
"We have a 10% increase in hiring, and we’ll be able to buy more of those million dollar printers that we were able to print the 'Fight!… pic.twitter.com/6Ktu7HdrxW
.@SBA_Kelly: "In 2025 alone, we guaranteed a record $45 billion in lending to 85,000 small businesses through local banks. That’s an all-time record at the @SBAgov — and we did it with 53% fewer staff at the agency." pic.twitter.com/zZiwBJfJUW
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 4, 2026
Andrew Saville, President of Georgia-based Coosa Steel: "The thing that took us right to the top was your tariffs... all the jobs that were going to China, you brought them back, and it really took us to the next level." 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/533Z3mLixv
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 4, 2026
The president also didn’t waste a moment to take a swipe at his predecessor:
Biden added $6 trillion worth of new regulations that created an estimated 356 hours of paperwork every year for small businesses. You know what that means? Better than anybody's means no good. Their policies punish our working citizens, and our policies protect you and reward you
He later touted the amount of investment that’s been poured in since the start of his second presidency:
You know, in this term, we have $18 trillion being invested in our country. And if you look at the last administration had less than $1 trillion for four years. We have 18 trillion during 11 months and 12 months coming yet in terms of the numbers, but in 11 months, $18 trillion investments.
We’re rolling, thanks to the big, beautiful bill, which Trump would like to rename “the great big beautiful tax cut bill and regulation cut bill.”
No tax on tips, overtime, or social security has helped tens of millions this tax season, with the no tax on overtime being especially popular.
More hardworking Americans are holding onto their hard-earned cash. What’s not to like?