{"id":100907,"date":"2020-05-19T09:11:03","date_gmt":"2020-05-19T16:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=100907"},"modified":"2020-05-19T09:11:03","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T16:11:03","slug":"president-trump-in-roundtable-with-restaurant-executives-comments-on-taking-hydroxychloroquine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=100907","title":{"rendered":"President Trump in Roundtable with Restaurant Executives &#038; Comments on Taking Hydroxychloroquine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Well, thank you very much.  We\u2019re here with the leaders of the restaurant industry.  It\u2019s an industry that\u2019s been tremendously impacted by what\u2019s happening with COVID, and it\u2019s an industry that we\u2019re working very hard with and on.  We\u2019re looking at doing deductibility so that a corporation can use a restaurant or entertainment clubs, et cetera, and get deductibility.  I think that\u2019ll really have a big impact.  Steve can maybe talk about it \u2014 Steve Mnuchin.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HzvTRLJBtf0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>But I\u2019d like to have some of these leaders talk about \u2014 real quickly \u2014 about their company and the industry and any ideas they have, and I think we can do it in front of the media for a little while, and then we can answer a couple of questions, and we\u2019re going to get back to business.  Okay?<\/p>\n<p>Please.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CIL:  Well, Mr. President and Mr. Vice President, Secretary Mnuchin, Secretary Scalia, and everyone else here, including my \u2014 my brethren from the restaurant industry: Thanks so much for \u2014 for having us here.  It\u2019s an honor for me to be here representing 10,000 restaurants in the U.S.  We have Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons.  These restaurants are owned by small businesses.  We have franchisees from coast to coast that \u2014 that work day in, day out.  We have team members that are in the restaurants day in and day out.<\/p>\n<p>We have \u2014 we\u2019ve been in the restaurants, working as an essential service since the beginning of the crisis in March.  We have had our drive-throughs open and delivery open, but we\u2019ve still had a tremendous impact on our business.  And so we\u2019re really looking forward to the process of reopening the economy, reopening the country.<\/p>\n<p>We already have about 1,000 locations around the country that have started to open the dining rooms with reduced capacity.  We\u2019ve added PPE.  We\u2019ve added safe social distancing in the restaurants to ensure that people can come in.  We have acrylic screens in the front counter.  We have masks and gloves for the employees to ensure that everyone feels safe \u2014 our guests and our team members.<\/p>\n<p>And I just wanted to thank the President.  Mr. President and your administration, I think you\u2019ve acted quickly and swiftly and with good measure.  The CARES Act and the PPP had a tremendous impact on our businesses.  I mean, I think there\u2019s a lot, we think, that it can do to make a very good program even better.<\/p>\n<p>One of the things that we\u2019ve talked about as we were kind of chatting here is this idea of extending the eight-week deadline.  We think that eight-week deadline, when it \u2014 when it was implemented, was probably \u2014 you know, eight weeks probably seemed like an eternity.  But today, we\u2019re \u2014 we\u2019re in the 10th week of the pandemic, and I think it\u2019s going to take some time for our restaurants and our owners to get back to the capacity levels and the traffic levels that we were seeing pre-COVID.<\/p>\n<p>And so a little more time, we think \u2014 probably taking it to 24 weeks \u2014 would be appropriate to allow for restaurant owners that are participating the program to be able to manage through and rehire the employees, which is what the purpose of PPP was intended for.<\/p>\n<p>There was two other things that I think are important for us.  One is we think business liability protection for small businesses is important.  You know, we\u2019re going to see potentially \u2014 with the reopening of the economy, with the reopening of small restaurants, we\u2019re going to see frivolous, I think, and unfounded lawsuits against restaurant owners, against small businesses that are trying to do the right thing, trying to survive, and trying to keep their \u2014 their businesses going.  So we \u2014 we firmly believe that protection from these types of frivolous lawsuits would be helpful.<\/p>\n<p>And then finally, to the extent that there\u2019s additional federal assistance that\u2019s targeted for the restaurant industry, I think the restaurant industry as a whole took about \u2014 participated to the tune of about 9 percent of the PPP, and we think there should be additional funds available for us to be able to weather and continue to weather the storm.<\/p>\n<p>But we\u2019re really proud to be here, proud to be part of this extraordinary group of restaurant leaders, and thank you so much for the opportunity to be here.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, thank you.  That\u2019s a lot.  Ten thousand restaurants.  And some big \u2014 that\u2019s some big group and a good group, too.  I know \u2014 I know your chains, and I know a lot about your company.  It\u2019s a great company.  So you\u2019ll be back very soon, I have no doubt about it.  And some of the things you mentioned, we\u2019ll be talking about.<\/p>\n<p>I do want to say before we go further: So this was a very big day therapeutically, cure-wise, and vaccine-wise.  Tremendous progress has been made, as I\u2019ve been saying for two weeks, because I\u2019ve been seeing what\u2019s going on and, I think, spearheading it largely.  And this was a very, very \u2014 some big announcements are \u2014 are coming and have just come out, and the market is up almost 1,000 points.  You\u2019ll check your market, your \u2014 I\u2019m sure you did before you walked in the room, but I imagine your company is doing better today than it was a week ago, right?<\/p>\n<p>MR. CIL:  We\u2019re focused on the profitability of our franchisees.  That\u2019s my focus.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.  Okay, good.  So what we have is big announcements coming, big announcements have already come, and tremendous progress has been made \u2014 therapeutically, cure-wise, and also, obviously, vaccine.  To me, thera- \u2014 therapeutically and cure is more important than vaccine because it\u2019s immediate.  And if we have something \u2014 even people that are very sick right now, we try and expedite everything so it goes really quickly \u2014 really, really quickly.  Like, \u201cLet\u2019s get it going, immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So if you have somebody that\u2019s not going to make it, if you have somebody that\u2019s going to pass away, going to die, and if we have something that we think works, we want to get them immediately into those hospitals or wherever the people are located.  So that\u2019s being talked about also with the FDA, with Dr. Stephen Hahn, who\u2019s doing a fantastic job.  And so we\u2019re trying to expedite things,<\/p>\n<p>But very importantly, just overall, what big news it is, medically.  We are so far ahead of where you would normally be, just from a logistical standpoint.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s the other thing: We\u2019re also gearing up and close to geared up because we have tremendous people in the military.  So they\u2019ll be able to deliver service very rapidly.<\/p>\n<p>So, a lot of good things are happening, and let\u2019s see what happens in the very near future.<\/p>\n<p>Steve, do you have anything to say?<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  I just want to add, Mr. President, that \u2013 thank you for all being here.  We appreciate how many people you employ as an industry and the special issues that we have, and we look forward to continuing to work with you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Good.  Thank you very much.  How are you doing on deductibility, Steve?  How\u2019s that going?  Good?  Good.<\/p>\n<p>Please.<\/p>\n<p>MR. RODRIGUE:  Thank you, Mr. President.  Really appreciate you gathering us here today.  This is a great representation of restaurants from across the country: Jos\u00e9 with his 10,000, my two on Bourbon Street.  I am the president and CEO of Galatoire\u2019s.  We\u2019ve been there since 1905.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.  Right.<\/p>\n<p>MR. RODRIGUE:  And, you know, restaurants are the cornerstone of so many communities.  Where some big \u2014 big business is absent, restaurants are there, and we employ so many people.  We just appreciate how swiftly you all have acted to bring relief our way.<\/p>\n<p>We think with just a few small changes in cover period and length of the cover period on the forgiveness of PPP, we have a real great opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>And, you know, just the very nature of restaurants in general: We rely on social interaction.  So it makes us really unique that we were hit hard quickly, and it\u2019s going to make our comeback really difficult.<\/p>\n<p>That being said, I\u2019m glad to hear your news that there\u2019s \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.  Well, my news negates what you just said because you would \u2014 you would be back into business like you had it.<\/p>\n<p>MR. RODRIGUE:  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No seats lost, et cetera, et cetera.  So we\u2019ll see what happens, but it certainly negates it.  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>MR. RODRIGUE:  Yeah.  So, you know, in the interim, we appreciate the opportunity to be in front of you.  Longer cure periods on the \u2014 on the \u2014 test periods on the loans would be incredible.  You know, a city like New Orleans, we have 1,500 restaurants but only 400,000 people.  And so when you look at that, where \u2014 how do we survive?  We survive with leisure and business travelers.  Nineteen million visitors last year.  And that being said, you know, it\u2019s going to take us a little time to ramp back up.<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019re looking forward to that period of time, and we believe that you guys have the opportunity to help us.  We greatly appreciate it.  We survived Hurricane Katrina.  We\u2019ve survived the BP oil spill.  Restauranteurs are a resilient groups.  Very tenacious.  And so we\u2019re there, and we appreciate your help.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So your area was amazing because it was hit hard, but it was very late.  We didn\u2019t think it was going to be hit at all, and then all of a sudden, it spiked up after you had a certain event.  And who knows what caused it, but maybe it was that.<\/p>\n<p>MR. RODRIGUE:  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And then it \u2014 it\u2019s doing incredibly well right now.  It\u2019s really down at a low number.<\/p>\n<p>MR. RODRIGUE:  Yeah, we\u2019ve made great progress.  The governor has done a really good job.  That being said, you know, 25 percent capacity is tough.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I agree.<\/p>\n<p>MR. RODRIGUE:  To literally think that this week, when we reopen at 25 percent, we\u2019ll lose \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No.<\/p>\n<p>MR. RODRIGUE:  \u2014 more money than last week because now we\u2019re incurring expenses.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  You got to get 100 percent, okay?<\/p>\n<p>MR. RODRIGUE:  Yes, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  We\u2019ve got to get up, and it\u2019s \u2014 I hope it\u2019s going to be up very fast.  I hope the governor does that pretty quickly.  Let\u2019s see how it goes.  A lot has to do with what I said in my opening remarks.<\/p>\n<p>Ivanka, do you have anything to say?  I know you like this industry.<\/p>\n<p>MS. TRUMP:  Well, I\u2019ve spoken with many of the people around this table over the course of the past several weeks and beforehand, and I do think it\u2019s worth noting the Paycheck Protection Program has given restaurants alone, that industry alone, over $30 billion of relief, representing a quarter of a million restaurants nationwide.  And that\u2019s just where we are today.<\/p>\n<p>So, the feedback has been tremendously helpful.  The Secretaries made some changes in the guidance and to \u2014 of course, in forming new policy as we come out of this.<\/p>\n<p>But we really appreciate your being here, and we thank you for the feedback.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, honey.<\/p>\n<p>MR. GUIDARA:  Hi, Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Secretary, all of you.  Thank you for having us.  My name is Will Guidara of Eleven Madison Park in New York City, but I\u2019m also a founding member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition.  We started just seven weeks ago.<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re here because we got together to represent the 500,000 independent restaurants across America.  I\u2019m talking about the mom and pops, your local diner, the pizza place, the pasta joint, and the three-Michelin-star restaurant, and honestly, everything in between \u2014 the things that represent the cultural fabric of our cities and of our towns and the things that I believe, as a country, we need to fight to keep.<\/p>\n<p>We also represent the 11 million people that work in those independent restaurants across the country.<\/p>\n<p>Listen, it\u2019s clear that this administration cares about our industry, and it\u2019s also clear that all of you understand the extent to which we are more specifically vulnerable than a lot of other industries in America.  And I think that\u2019s why we\u2019re here today.<\/p>\n<p>And so I think it\u2019s just important to take a moment and acknowledge that and say thank you, that we\u2019re taking this time.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Will, very much.<\/p>\n<p>MR. GUIDARA:  PPP is important, and the changes that have already been talked about and are going to continue being talked about today are very important.  And if those changes are made such that people feel confidence that they can spend that money and have it forgiven, I think that will be the thing that allows our restaurants to reopen.<\/p>\n<p>That said, we need something more than that, that is specific to independent restaurants, in order for our restaurants to stay open.  Everyone here knows that, last month alone \u2014 I think in the first half of April \u2014 more than one out of four people that applied for unemployment were restaurant workers.  One out of four.  It\u2019s just insane.<\/p>\n<p>And so we\u2019ve put forward a plan to members of Congress and to this administration that we put forward because it\u2019ll put all of those people that are currently unemployed back to work, such that, by the third quarter of this year, we\u2019re going to be looking at unemployment reports that are astonishingly good, not to mention the supply chain that we represent.  If restaurants go down, the commercial real estate industry, the farming industry \u2014<\/p>\n<p>And so our plan helps bring unemployment back to where it needs to be, and it supports a lot of our other industries that rely on independent restaurants for their survival.<\/p>\n<p>And so we appreciate being here.  We\u2019d love the opportunity to talk more about this.  I know that in times like this, a lot of people have their hands out.  I don\u2019t take that lightly.  I do believe that independent restaurants are more vulnerable than most and a really important part of this nation, and I don\u2019t want to lose them.<\/p>\n<p>So we appreciate your consideration and your support.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Okay.  Thank you very much, Will. Appreciate it.<\/p>\n<p>Larry, please.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KUDLOW:  Thank you, sir.  Forty-eight states are opening.  That\u2019s a big plus.  And the vaccination research news was great today.  So we see it in the stock market.<\/p>\n<p>I want to thank everybody for being here.  We are working hard.  Steve mentioned the tax deductions for restaurants.  We\u2019re also working very hard on the COVID-19 liability restrictions.  That\u2019s going to be a key part of our next package.<\/p>\n<p>And I just want to say \u2014 I guess I\u2019m usually the optimist, but we\u2019re in a terrible pandemic contraction here in the second quarter \u2014 we know that \u2014 and there\u2019s a lot of hardship and a lot of heartbreak.  But there\u2019s also a few glimmers of hope of recovery, because I know you, sir, believe in the second-half recovery and I do too.  And I think with the right policies, we can have a booming next year.<\/p>\n<p>But the signs are: housing demand looks better, gasoline demand looks better, the Apple mobility index looks better.  That\u2019s, you know, people dialing up to see who\u2019s \u2014 where to get from A to B.  New York State\u2019s Empire State Manufacturing Index was up enormously.  I don\u2019t know where that came from, but it was.  Unemployment claims each week look terrible, but they\u2019re a lot less terrible from, you know, 7 million to 3 million.  So there are some glimmers of hope.  Kevin has some data on better credit card numbers.<\/p>\n<p>So it\u2019s a tough haul, but I think things are starting to turn.  That\u2019s my take.  I wish everybody luck.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I think so, Larry, maybe much more than people understand.  And you\u2019re starting to see that.  Going to come back strong.<\/p>\n<p>Please.<\/p>\n<p>MR. BODENSTEDT:  Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Secretary Scalia, Secretary: I want to thank you for having us here today.  I have restaurants across the United States.  We average 27 employees per restaurant.  These are the small businesses across \u2014 in each of these communities \u2014 that those 27 people have families, have mortgages, have rents, have car payments to make every day.<\/p>\n<p>And being able to stay open and work with the governors and get the PPP money, and to be able to give people reassurances that tomorrow is going to be better than it was today, and to give them that hope has been really important for us, our business, and those families.  And I want to thank you for your leadership and your team\u2019s leadership in doing so.<\/p>\n<p>One of the things we talk about in the business is how well we talk about treating others and bringing people into the family and bringing them into the restaurant like you\u2019re bringing them into your home.  And that\u2019s what we do in the restaurant business every day: We treat everyone like family.  In doing so, and having the leadership here has been really helpful to us and the entire industry.<\/p>\n<p>And frankly, you know, eight weeks, nine weeks ago, I was thinking about this Chinese nightmare, and I didn\u2019t want it to affect the American Dream that we all had.  And I\u2019m a success story about the American Dream, going from $3.45 an hour, starting at the front counter in a fast food restaurant, to what we have today.  And I couldn\u2019t be prouder \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  How many \u2014 how many restaurants?<\/p>\n<p>MR. BODENSTEDT:  I own and operate 765 restaurants across the United States now.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s fantastic.  Wow.<\/p>\n<p>MR. BODENSTEDT:  And it\u2019s a \u2014 I couldn\u2019t be \u2014 it\u2019s an American Dream, sir.  And I appreciate everything everyone is doing here to keep that dream going, and the tomorrow is going to be better than today, and I appreciate that.  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  If we get deductibility, you\u2019ll do better than you did two months ago.<\/p>\n<p>MR. BODENSTEDT:  Thank you, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s my opinion.<\/p>\n<p>Please, go ahead, Kevin.  Give it \u2014 let us \u2014 let us know what\u2019s going to happen.<\/p>\n<p>MR. HASSETT:  Yeah.  Sir, you know, first of all, you might recall when we first started talking about the economic damage that was coming from the shutdown, that we emphasized right from the beginning that this industry and the travel industry were going to be the hardest hit.  And so we\u2019ve been focused like a laser beam on coming up with policy ideas to do something about it.  And, as you said, we\u2019ve got a really good plan.<\/p>\n<p>The thing I could say is that, if you look at the real-time data, as Larry said, that you really are starting to see glimmers of hope, and maybe even, like, you could even characterize it a little more optimistically than that.  Larry is being super cautious.  But the credit card data are really going up.  The number of businesses open in the country is skyrocketing.  I mean, the country is getting back now.<\/p>\n<p>And I think that there\u2019s a great reason for optimism for this group because you can really see things going much, much faster forward than I expected.  I know you know I was pretty depressed about how bad it looked and how slow it was going to be a few weeks ago, but now you can really see it turning on faster than I thought.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yep.  There\u2019s a tremendous demand \u2014 tremendous pent-up demand.  It\u2019s true.<\/p>\n<p>MR. HASSETT:  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Don\u2019t forget, we turned it off artificially.  You know, it was just stopped.  We went from the greatest economy in history, of any country, to, \u201cWe have to stop.\u201d  And we saved, by doing that, millions of lives.  We saved hundreds of thousands, but probably millions of lives.  And we did the right thing.<\/p>\n<p>And now we have to open, and now we\u2019re going to do great.  And if we \u2014 if this comes along, what we\u2019re hearing medically from these great companies, these great geniuses, if this happens, that\u2019s really \u2014 that\u2019s really going to be something.<\/p>\n<p>So, great job.  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>MR. HASSETT:  Thank you, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Please.<\/p>\n<p>MR. IRBY:  Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Secretary Scalia, Secretary Mnuchin, it\u2019s an honor to be here today.  My name is Marvin Irby, and on behalf of the National Restaurant Association, thank you for convening this meeting and these industry leaders on this very important subject.<\/p>\n<p>To be honest with you, normally at this time, I\u2019d spend a lot of time telling you about this industry, but what\u2019s been clear over the last several months is that you get it.  This administration gets it.  You know everything about our world-famous chefs, our esteemed independence, our beloved brands that dot every community in this country.<\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019m proud to say that for over 100 years, the National Restaurant Association has represented all restaurants that play a key role in our society and an integral role in our food chain.<\/p>\n<p>I have the opportunity that I get to speak to restauranteurs every single day.  And I can confirm we desperately want to reopen.  Our restaurants are desperate and are heartbroken that, at this time, we can\u2019t provide the support and the comfort to the communities in which we serve.<\/p>\n<p>For too many restaurants right now, this incident happened 60 days ago that has crippled us.  And before today\u2019s news, we did not see an end date until later this year.<\/p>\n<p>Programs like the Paycheck Protection Program are an incredible first step.  And thank you, Secretary Mnuchin, for this program, which has benefitted millions of small companies throughout this country.<\/p>\n<p>We also appreciate Ivanka Trump\u2019s dedication to our industry.  And I personally want to thank you for the time you\u2019ve taken to talk to our board over the last months of this crisis.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. President, the Payroll Protection Program would be a godsend if we could make one change: if we could extend the time that we need \u2014 that we have to spend the proceeds.  In too many communities today, the eight-week period is simply not enough time.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So how much \u2014 how much time do you want?<\/p>\n<p>MR. IRBY:  Twenty-four weeks.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  How about 30 weeks?<\/p>\n<p>MR. IRBY:  Thirty weeks works.  Thirty weeks works.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  How about \u2014 how about 75 weeks?<\/p>\n<p>MR. IRBY:  Ehhh \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I know a couple of you \u2014 you\u2019ll never stop.  Right?  (Laughter.)  I know a couple of guys in this room.<\/p>\n<p>No, I understand.  So you think it needs to be what?  What would you say would be a minimum length?<\/p>\n<p>MR. IRBY:  Twenty-four weeks.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  How much?<\/p>\n<p>MR. IRBY:  Twenty-four weeks.  You need to give our smaller restauranteurs the opportunities to open, to begin to have demand, and bring back the employees.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Is that \u2014 what were you going to say in terms of timing?<\/p>\n<p>MR. GUIDARA:  Yeah, I think for the PPP fixes, if we can take it from 8 weeks to 24 weeks.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Is that the \u2014 no, is the term \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. GUIDARA:  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  \u2014 more or less the term you\u2019re thinking about?<\/p>\n<p>MR. GUIDARA:  And then move June 30th to October 31st.  If those two changes were made to that program, it would change it dramatically.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  What\u2019s more important: that or deductibility?<\/p>\n<p>MR. GUIDARA:  That.<\/p>\n<p>MR. IRBY:  Yes.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Really?<\/p>\n<p>MR. GUIDARA:  Deductibility is amazing, but it\u2019s almost like we need to build the house first.  Deductibility is the thing that makes the house \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Does anybody disagree with that?  Because I think deductibility is the biggest thing you can possibly do.<\/p>\n<p>MR. LOVE:  Mr. President \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Does anybody \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. LOVE:  \u2014 I think that that if you \u2014 if what he\u2019s saying is, if we could get the 24 weeks, which gets us to October 31st basically \u2014 right? \u2014 this allows us to get the young restaurateurs going and spend the money that you intended for them so that we can get out and show them what a great job you guys are doing.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  All right.  But you\u2019re pretty unified on the number 24.  Right?<\/p>\n<p>MR. LOVE:  Yes, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Okay.  Go ahead, please.<\/p>\n<p>MR. IRBY:  And the best thing about it: It\u2019s no additional money.  It\u2019s an extension of the current program.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Okay.<\/p>\n<p>MR. IRBY:  So \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Got it.<\/p>\n<p>MR. GUIDARA:  The deductibility thing is great \u2014<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  Can I \u2014 can I just \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. GUIDARA:  I just don\u2019t want to not support that.  I think it\u2019s just a matter of waiting.  We need to get the restaurants open first, and these changes allow us to get them open.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  I just wanted to clarify, because you said it\u2019s \u201cno additional money.\u201d  Are you saying just the time period goes \u2014 it\u2019s 8 weeks going to 24?  You still have eight weeks of money?  Or you want 24 weeks of money?<\/p>\n<p>MR. IRBY:  No, we want 24 weeks in order to spend.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  To spend the eight weeks?<\/p>\n<p>MR. IRBY:  Correct.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  Got it.  Thank you for the clarification.<\/p>\n<p>MR. RODRIGUE:  We believe that if we elongate \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Is that correct?  Does everybody agree with that?<\/p>\n<p>MR. RODRIGUE:  Yes, sir.<\/p>\n<p>If we can elongate the test period, it gives us more staying power and we can spend that money and really get where we need to be good.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  Good.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And what about the payroll tax, by the way?  How do you feel about that?  Is that a big deal?<\/p>\n<p>MR. CIL:  Yes, sir.<\/p>\n<p>MR. GUIDARA:  That would be an extraordinarily big deal.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And how does that compare with what we\u2019re talking about with the time period \u2014 payroll tax?<\/p>\n<p>MR. RODRIGUE:  I would say deductibility, payroll tax deductions, all those things are spectacular, and we need them and they would be greatly beneficial.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  But?<\/p>\n<p>MR. RODRIGUE:  We\u2019re viewing the PPP fix as what we need to get out of the rut.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So the PPP was really a big deal, wasn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<p>MR. RODRIGUE:  Yes, sir.  Massive.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So we hit it right.  When we did it, we hit it right.  Okay, thank you very much.  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>MR. BODENSTEDT:  It was such a \u2014 it was a such a big deal, sir, that we haven\u2019t laid off a single person.  And there\u2019s 20,000 people that are paying their taxes, they\u2019re paying their bills, and they\u2019re doing all of that every day.  And without that, I don\u2019t think we would\u2019ve been able to do that, sir.  That\u2019s how big a deal it is.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Great.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, good afternoon.  Thank you so much for your leadership.  Ladies and gentlemen, it\u2019s an honor to be here and I deeply appreciate the opportunity.  My name is Niren.  I represent Panera Bread.  Panera has two and half thousand cafes, revenues of about $6 billion, and we employ 140,000 people.<\/p>\n<p>The pandemic impacted us very deeply, as it did everybody else.  We lost close to 50 percent of our revenue in the first week.  Since then, it is slowly coming back, but we still have a long way to go.<\/p>\n<p>Now, the health crisis \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So you got down by 50 percent or more than that?<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  Yeah.  Fifty to sixty percent was the revenue decline.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s not bad.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  And we are \u2014 and I think what\u2019s \u2014 what\u2019s good is that it\u2019s actually coming back since that time \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Good.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY: \u2014 thanks to a lot of the innovation that we\u2019ve been able to do.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Good.  But \u2014 so you got \u2014 maximum, though \u2014 50 percent of revenue lost.  How\u2019d you keep the other 50 percent?<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  So the 50 percent that we have by ensuring \u2014 so fortunately, I think, at Panera, we have very strong omnichannel business.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Right.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  So we have delivery, rapid pickup, drive-through, and so on.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  You did very well.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s great.  Great job.  Go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  Yeah.  So, I think we\u2019ve had to innovate very quickly, and I\u2019ll share some \u2014 some of those ideas.  So, I believe that the health crisis is now becoming a financial crisis, you know, with 36 million Americans unemployed, and a humanitarian crisis as well, with about 54 million Americans fighting hunger.  And therefore, I think opening up the economy right now in a phased manner is the right thing to do.  I also believe that we, as leaders, need to also step up and do the right thing at this time and do what we can do \u2014 what\u2019s in our control.<\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019ll share some ideas and thoughts in terms of what Panera has been doing, largely with the intent to innovate and do that with compassion and heart.<\/p>\n<p>So for our furloughed employees, you know, we have free family meals every week for them, emergency relief funds, and also we\u2019ve made arrangements with peer companies that are actually hiring at this time \u2014 like CVS, Walmart \u2014 to hire our furloughed employees temporarily, and then return them back.<\/p>\n<p>For customers, we\u2019ve innovated very quickly.  We\u2019ve launched the curbside pickup service with geofencing, and also free Wi-Fi outside the cafes because life is moving to outside the cafes, and also doing a lot for our communities, especially those impacted most by the pandemic.  So doctors and nurses \u2013we\u2019re serving about 50,000 meals to doctors and nurses in New York; children in the state of Ohio, with our partnership with USDA.  And also, we\u2019ve launched a program called Together Without Hunger with Feeding America, and have pledged to serve half a million meals to children and families through \u2014 through Feeding America.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Great.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  So, I think, it\u2019s very important at this time that I think we need to also step up and contribute.  We were able to keep 85 percent of our cafes open.  We were determined to keep them open so that we could keep our associates employed at that time.  And therefore, now, we\u2019re beginning to open up the dining areas in phases, following all of the guidelines, but also have stringent protocols that we\u2019ve put in place, like plexiglass barriers, wellness stations for temperature checks, social distancing norms, et cetera.<\/p>\n<p>I think \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Q    Will you be keeping any of that?  I mean, there are some innovations that have been made.  Some people say, \u201cMaybe we\u2019ll keep it.\u201d  Would you be keeping any of that or not really?<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  Yes.  We \u2014 I think this is \u2014 there\u2019s going to be a shift in how the consumers are going to interact with brands, and I think it is time for us to innovate.  So another example is \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Would you ever keep the plex- \u2014 plexiglass barriers?<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  So, I think we\u2019ll keep the plexiglass barriers.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No, I mean, on a permanent basis, I\u2019m talking about.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  I think, at least over the next six to nine months.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Right.  But could you see that being permanent?  Because, hopefully, you\u2019re not going to have it that long, by the way \u2014 nine months.  But would you see a thing like that \u2014 you\u2019d have to build a nicer version of it, you know, as opposed to quickly throwing it up.  But would you see something like that being permanent possibly?<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  I think, hopefully, if the virus is an under control and we\u2019ve gotten to the other side of it, and then we can get back to life as we once knew it.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  You\u2019d rather not have it?<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  We\u2019d rather move back to life as we once knew it, and we\u2019d rather not \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I agree.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  Yeah.  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I agree.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  Exactly.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Okay.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  Another, I think, interesting innovation is that recognizing that there\u2019s so much high friction with high-demand grocery items, where you can\u2019t get them home delivered.  We launched a new line of business called Panera Grocery in 10 days.  And we\u2019re delivering, you know, bakery items, fresh produce, dairy to customers in less than an hour, on the same day.<\/p>\n<p>So, I think the good thing is: It\u2019s forced us to really innovate and be very responsive.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Good.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  I think the restaurant industry is deeply, deeply appreciative of all the support and the efforts that you and the administration have made.  I think the CARES Act has been hugely welcomed.<\/p>\n<p>I would like to, in particular, thank you for the PPP program because it\u2019s made a huge difference to our franchise partners and our associates.  I think, with a few of the amendments that we talked about \u2014 I\u2019d fully agree with the 8 weeks and 24 weeks; I think that is badly needed.  I think that will be hugely welcomed.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Steve, does that make sense from our standpoint?  What do you think?<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  We\u2019re working on a technical fix that we do have bipartisan support for it to extend it.  I\u2019m not sure it\u2019s that long.  But I\u2019ve spoken to the SBA committee and there is bipartisan support, so we\u2019re working on that.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  And I think we talked about the limited liability.  I think that\u2019s also a very important aspect.  And thirdly \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  The Democrats don\u2019t want to give you lia- \u2014 the liability provisions.  They just don\u2019t want to have that.  And it\u2019s crazy that they don\u2019t.  But the Democrats do not want to give that to people, and that\u2019s not a good thing.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  And I think the third thing is, I think \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  But we\u2019ll get it anyway.  Go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  Our employees are \u2014 I think, if we can eliminate the friction in the furloughed employees being able to access their unemployment benefits, that will also be fantastic.  And \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And that \u2014 the problem there is the states have old equipment, in many cases, and they\u2019re unable to get the money \u2014 you know, we gave the money out immediately.  But the states are unab- \u2014 some states are unable to give it out.  They have 40-year-old equipment.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And some states are unable to get their act together.  But we gave that out long ago, as you probably know.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Okay.  I appreciate it.  Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>MR. CHAUDHARY:  Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Brooke, would you like to say a few words?<\/p>\n<p>MS. ROLLINS:  Mr. President, thank you.  Just a few words.  I am \u2014 I am so grateful for all of you being here today.  I am struck by the stories of true American Dreams.  I mean, starting at $3.45 an hour and then, ultimately, owning so many restaurants and hundreds of thousands.  But I\u2019m also \u2014 hundreds of thousands of employees.  But I\u2019m also struck by this President and Vice President\u2019s commitment to our most vulnerable populations and their American Dream, and their American Dream working in all of your restaurants.<\/p>\n<p>This President is the jobs President.  I think that none of us, other than maybe my boss, realized the economy that we would achieve in just three short years, where there were more people \u2014 more jobs available than people to fill them.  And what I am so encouraged by is the resoluteness and the conviction of this President, this Vice President, but truly the American entrepreneurs that are sitting around the table today.<\/p>\n<p>And working alongside all of you, as we bring this country back to even greater heights than we ever knew possible \u2014 the transition to greatness \u2014 is really what America and the American Dream is all about.<\/p>\n<p>So thank you all for being here.  Know that we are here to help you always, and we are here to make sure that what this President led on and has achieved will be, once again, very, very soon.<\/p>\n<p>So, thank you, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much, Brooke.  Great job.<\/p>\n<p>MR. LOVE:  Thank you, Mr. President and Mr. Vice President, and secretaries for having me here today.  My name is Tim Love.  I\u2019m a chef and owner of a few restaurants in Texas and Tennessee.  I also am the chef of four major music festivals and food festivals around the country.  So, I\u2019ve \u2014 I\u2019ve been greatly affected by obviously what\u2019s happened here, along with everybody else in this room.<\/p>\n<p>But what I wanted to speak to you about today is that \u2014 to touch on the PPP and to, kind of, clarify what we were saying: is the 24 weeks is only set up because certain restaurants aren\u2019t able to open now.  In Texas, we were able to open on May 1st, and I quickly activated the PPP and tried to get all my employees back.  I\u2019ve hired 80 percent of my workforce.  I started with 490 employees.  We\u2019ve got about 400 employees already back.<\/p>\n<p>And I will say it\u2019s encouraging to see people come out.  They\u2019re excited.  They want to be out.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  What would\u2019ve happened if you didn\u2019t have PPP?<\/p>\n<p>MR. LOVE:  Well, if I didn\u2019t have \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Would you have survived it?  Would you have gotten by?<\/p>\n<p>MR. LOVE:  Probably would\u2019ve gotten by, but this allows us to do it the way that we feel like it should be: to take care of the employees first.  We want to take care of our employees and make sure they\u2019re safe.  Same activation we\u2019re having opening the restaurants.  We want to open the restaurants safely and make sure our employees are safe first so our guests can be safe.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d ask from the administration to put out that confidence to get the American people understanding that it is great to go out and that our economy is going to be great again, because we know where it was before it started.  We know how \u2014 how to get there, clearly.  So now, just with a couple of adjustments to things that are already written.  To the Secretary\u2019s point, we don\u2019t need \u2014 we\u2019re not asking for more money.  We\u2019re just asking the opportunity to spend it the way that you want us to spend it, the way it was intended: to take care of our employees when we\u2019re able to open up.  That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That should be easy, Steve, honestly.<\/p>\n<p>MR. LOVE:  Yes, sir, Mr. President.  I think \u2014 I think you can \u2014 you can take care of that for sure.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Right?<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  Yeah, we\u2019re \u2014 we\u2019re working on it, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That should be easy.  Okay?<\/p>\n<p>MR. LOVE:  Yeah.  And so \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s like one of the easiest requests I\u2019ve ever heard, Larry.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  I\u2019m going to get you (inaudible).<\/p>\n<p>MR. LOVE:  That \u2014 that leads me to my next request.  (Laughter.)  The \u2014 the 75\/25, the way that it\u2019s spent, I know it\u2019s tough, but I\u2019m speaking for my friends who are in New York \u2014 not necessarily for myself, even in Texas where the rents are higher \u2014 and they need the ability to spend the money on rent if necessary, so long as they\u2019re hiring their employees back.<\/p>\n<p>So while the number one thing is to get the workforce back, reduce unemployment, get people back to work \u2014 which is what I\u2019m doing at 25 percent.  Believe me, I\u2019m not going and building new houses on my 25 percent of occupancy, but what I am doing is putting the great American people back to work that I love.<\/p>\n<p>And the way we get the economy going is getting the workers back to work so they\u2019re able to spend money and earn money, so therefore, we can keep the economy moving.<\/p>\n<p>And so those two adjustments to the PPP, which \u2014 which, you know, don\u2019t require any extra money from the administration or from Congress allows us to really move the economy forward, which I know is one of your number one things, especially as we\u2019re moving along this year.  And I think you can get a lot of people in our industry \u2014 the workers, the people that work very, very hard \u2014 to get behind you just to show that kind of confidence.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I think you will.  How many restaurants are there total \u2014 everything \u2014 in the United States?  How many are there?<\/p>\n<p>PARTICIPANT:  Six hundred fifty thousand.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  How much?<\/p>\n<p>PARTICIPANT:  Six hundred fifty thousand.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Six hundred fifty thousand restaurants.  Who would \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PARTICIPANT:  (Inaudible) 11 percent of the United States.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Who would think that\u2019s \u2014 11 percent of the overall?  Six hundred and fifty thousand restaurants.  Who would ever think that\u2019s possible even, right?  That\u2019s good.  And it\u2019s been a great business over the years, and it\u2019ll be better than ever.<\/p>\n<p>MR. LOVE:  And there will be 650,000 again, so long as you keep doing what you\u2019re doing there, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s fantastic.  Yeah, no, it\u2019s \u2014 I think deductibility gets that.  Actually, I think you\u2019ll \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. LOVE:  I would agree with that.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  \u2014 you\u2019ll go up very substantially.  They got rid of a lot of restaurants when they ended that.  People don\u2019t realize that.  Then you get used to it.  You had fewer restaurants.  They rent it to other things.  Now I don\u2019t know what they\u2019re going to rent to, frankly.<\/p>\n<p>MR. LOVE:  And to your point about that, sir, the deductibility \u2014 which you can easily identify with and it does spread wealth amongst the restaurants, most definitely \u2014 we\u2019re talking just about an immediate concern with the PPP to get people moving forward \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>MR. LOVE:  \u2014 so that we can get this deductibility going.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I \u2014 I agree.  No, I agree.  We\u2019ll \u2014 we\u2019ll look at that very strongly.<\/p>\n<p>MR. LOVE:  Yes, sir.  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Okay.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Hello, Mr. President.  And it seems how important this \u2014 it is to all of y\u2019all this subject, because I haven\u2019t seen this much firepower from all of y\u2019all, except at a state dinner or a Christmas party.  So I appreciate, Mr. President, that all of you guys are here because I know you\u2019re really trying to get something done.<\/p>\n<p>I own a company, Landry\u2019s, which is in 40 states, and is all full-service restaurants.  So I average like 150 employees per restaurant.  And it\u2019s everything from Del Frisco\u2019s, to Mastro\u2019s, to Martin\u2019s, The Palm.  But then it\u2019s, on the other side, the Bubba Gumps, the Rainforest, and they\u2019re all company owned.<\/p>\n<p>This \u2014 it\u2019s been devastating, and it\u2019s \u2014 you know, it\u2019s funny you brought up about China.  I should have realized was going to be a bad year for China when my general manager tweeted out, you know, \u201cFreedom for Hong Kong.\u201d  (Laughter.)  So that started my year with China.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  (Laughs.)  And you kept it quiet, right?  You kept that quiet.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  So \u2014 so I\u2019m still trying to work that out.  And here comes something else \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  He owns the Houston Rockets, in case you don\u2019t know.  And he\u2019s a great \u2014 and, by the way, he\u2019s a great guy, great family, great everything.  And, yeah, he did cause you a little raucous, didn\u2019t he?  Whatever happened to him, by the way?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Yes.  Yes.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Is he still working for you?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Yes, he is.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  He must be pretty good.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Yes, because it\u2019s just \u2014 it\u2019s a trick question.  (Laughter.)  But he is.  So \u2014 so \u2014 but, Mr. President, everybody is talking about the PPP.  And the \u2014 when \u2014 when your team designed the PPP and said, \u201cLet\u2019s bring it through the SBA,\u201d I think it was an unbelievable idea.  And you did exactly what you needed to do.<\/p>\n<p>But I\u2019m one of those people, when it started being pitted against \u2014 because I\u2019m a sole proprietor, but I do $4 billion in revenue.  And I would\u2019ve been that billionaire that took the money from the little business.  So I was not able to take the PPP money.  And I caught so much criticism because I was the first person who did lay off 40,000 employees, because the world doesn\u2019t understand that when you shut everything down, from your casinos \u2014 which you and I did a few deals together from the Rainforest to the Trump Marina \u2014 your tail of your payroll was $150 million the next two weeks.  And we all pay \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  \u2014 yesterday\u2019s bills with today\u2019s income.  And I wanted to put 40,000 people back to work May the 1st but couldn\u2019t take the \u2014 the criticism.  And even from the administration, there was some that bigger companies shouldn\u2019t be taking this money.  But I don\u2019t have the ability to put those 40,000 people back to work.<\/p>\n<p>So I just wished that \u2014 don\u2019t add any money, but just divide it up and say \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So you\u2019re saying that because your restaurants aren\u2019t split up among thousands of people that own restaurants, and you have it yourself in the company.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Yeah, that it would have been one person taking this money.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, so it\u2019s \u2014 it\u2019s a \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  But you \u2014 but your team specifically wrote the bill for any restaurant under 500.  It \u2014 this was for the restaurant business \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  \u2014 which has only gotten 9 percent of the money.  But if you would just split it up \u2014 and I\u2019m not saying add any more money, but add a category for the larger private restauranteur that could go out and take this money and put it in a different bucket so it wouldn\u2019t be me taking this money away from the little beauty salon.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So what happened to you then, Tilman?  So where are you on that whole thing?  How did you do with the PPP?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Well \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  How did you \u2014 how did it work out for your company?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  I took the money and sent it back and did not spend a dollar of it, because I \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Because \u2014 because they found out you\u2019re very rich and they said, \u201cWhat the hell?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  You know what?  But I also was the first person that opened the leveraged finance market and went and borrowed $300 million \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  \u2014 at 12 percent, where just three months earlier, borrowed at 3 percent because I needed the liquidity to keep the company afloat.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So, what\u2019d you do?  You went out very early, right?  For the money?  And you\u2019ve \u2014 you found the market were \u2014 it was opened, even at that early date.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Yes.  I borrowed $300 million to add to liquidity, but I still \u2014 it wasn\u2019t enough to hire back all my employees, which I would have loved to have done with the PPP.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  What\u2019d you do with your basketball players that are making $25 million a year?  (Laughs.)<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  I have two of them that make $40 [million].  (Laughs.)  Russell and James.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  By the way, they are good players.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  They are good, but they \u2014 yes, they are getting paid \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Could I ask you, just out of curiosity \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA: \u2014 because it was a collective bargaining agreement, and that\u2019s why \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Tilman, what\u2019s going to happen with basketball?  Can you give us a \u2014 because I would be interested.  Do you have any idea what they\u2019re doing now?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Yes.  Yes.  (Laughs.)  I think what they\u2019re doing is waiting to see what happens in certain states and if we\u2019re going to be able to play, making sure the virus continues to go in the right direction in the next few weeks.  And I think that if things keep going the way that it\u2019s going, I think the NBA, the commissioner, Adam Silver, who\u2019s done an unbelievable job through this, and the 30 \u2014 the owners, I think will make the decision to try to start the season up again.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Will you finish the season or not?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  I think that there\u2019s talk about finishing the season, playing x amount of games.  The players need to play to get paid.  And right now, they\u2019re taking a 25 percent pay cut.  And \u2014 because they own 50 percent of our revenues, the players, unlike the other sports.  And so they \u2014 they want that revenue and that television revenue, even if it\u2019s not the people in the stand\u2019s revenue, so they can get paid.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Could you go immediately to playoffs or is that not really possible?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  I think that they would use the \u2014 I think that we would play some games just to get it going again \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.  Right.  I agree.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  \u2014 and create the interest and then go right into the playoffs.  But I think it will be great for America.  We\u2019re all missing sports.  And everybody, you know, wants to see these great NBA teams.  But \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Good.  Good luck with that.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>But just create a category for us, Mr. Secretary \u2014 (laughs) \u2014 where we \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Steve, what do you think about that?  I mean, he\u2019s got a unique situation.  You know, he has a lot of restaurants.  It\u2019s a big company.  But \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  But I can\u2019t pay them.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  You have other people where the company is the same size, but you have 2,000 owners.  What do you think of that?<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  Well, it\u2019s a complicated issue, Mr. President.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That is a complicated \u2014<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  As I\u2019ve said before, we didn\u2019t anticipate the Los Angeles Lakers, who I\u2019m a big fan of, would be taking a PPP loan.  And, as a result of that, there was a lot of backlash around that.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Who paid it back.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  And we went through the certifications, and \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I\u2019m saying that for the media: They paid it.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  Again, we realize the issue, how it impacts your workers, and we\u2019re sympathetic to that.  This was a program for companies that were not necessarily quite as big, but we understand your issue.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, but this is different than the Lakers.  The Lakers are a basketball team.  This is a man that owns many \u2014 how many restaurants do you own?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Six hundred restaurants, but they\u2019re all full-service restaurants.  You know, I have 60,000 employees and \u2014 and you don\u2019t have the abil- \u2014 the ability to pay them.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  I\u2019m happy to follow up with you.  We don\u2019t need to have this in front of all of our friends back there.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No, but it is interesting for the press to hear because they understand the complexity of it.  So, if he had 600 owners and he franchised them out or something \u2014 but he had 600 owners, they qualify.  If he has, you know \u2014 if he owns it, it\u2019s a different situation.  But I can understand what he\u2019s saying.  So let\u2019s take a look at it.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  And then just one more thing.  If we could just do something with lease terminations, because like \u2014 I\u2019m the largest operator in New York for full-service restaurants.  And the million-dollar leases \u2014 let them protect their rights of the landlords \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  What\u2019s your largest restaurant?  What is it in New York?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Del Frisco\u2019s, Mastro\u2019s, Martin\u2019s, the Strip House, the \u2014 Bill\u2019s Burger in Rockefeller Center, you know, Dos Caminos, you know \u2014 on and on.<\/p>\n<p>So, but \u2014 but if we could just \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Good job you\u2019ve done.  I mean, you got hit by the plague, right?  But, outside of that, you\u2019ve done a hell of a job.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Just trying to keep up with it.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  It just brought you back to Earth a little bit.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  We were definitely brought back to Earth.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  You really have \u2014 you\u2019ve done a fantastic job.  Hey, you\u2019re a friend of mine for a long time and \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Thank you, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  \u2014 I have to say, you\u2019ve paid me rent for a long time, right?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Absolutely.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  For Rainforest and some other things.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Never missed a payment.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And you were never late.  No, you\u2019re a great \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  You\u2019re a tough landlord.  (Laughs.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  \u2014 a great gentleman.  Really a great gentleman.<\/p>\n<p>Steve, it\u2019s an interesting case.  Okay?  Do the best you can.<\/p>\n<p>Good luck with the basketball.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Thank you, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  You have a hell of a team.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  And thank all of you \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Say hello to those two great players \u2014 all of your players.  But, man, they are \u2014 they can play, huh?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  They can play.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So you say they make $40 [million] a year?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:   Russell and James both make $40 million a year, and they were still getting paid.  So a lot of my employees really wanted that PPP money.  (Laughs.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  You want them to \u2014 you want them to play this year?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Yes, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  How many more years do you have together, right?  So you \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  I have both of them for three more years.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  You want them to play this year, because magic can happen, right?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  I want them \u2014 absolutely.  A little magic \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Okay.  Good luck.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  \u2014 and all of a sudden, you get a big ring.  (Laughs.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Good luck.  Thanks, Tilman.  Thanks.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Thank you, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Jared?<\/p>\n<p>MR. KUSHNER:  I just want to thank everyone for being here.  It\u2019s been incredible to watch all the innovations that you\u2019ve been doing in your business models to give more confidence to the public to get open.<\/p>\n<p>The President identified this very early as a critical industry for us to focus on for a few reasons.  One is you\u2019re a major employer.  There\u2019s a lot of people who are hurting right now because the restaurant industry is closed, but also you\u2019re a gem of America.  People love getting entertainment and enjoyment from the great work that you do.<\/p>\n<p>So, this has never really been an issue before because the restaurant business has never been closed before for a period of time.  So this is truly a unique historical situation that\u2019s occurred, and, you know, we\u2019re all in this together to try to figure out the best way back.<\/p>\n<p>But the quicker that we can help you figure out how to get demand up, the quicker you can hire back employees and we can get Americans back to enjoying all of your fine establishments.  So, thank you for all you\u2019re doing.  And thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So, you know, Tilman, he took a ventilator job where the country basically had no ventilators, essentially, and built an incredible empire for building ventilators in a period of a very short time.  And now we\u2019re supplying ventilators all over the world.  It\u2019s an amazing thing.  We got no credit from the fake news media, but what are you going to do?  You can\u2019t win them all.<\/p>\n<p>And now the testing today \u2014 on the Washington Post, they actually had a headline that the testing is there, but the people aren\u2019t there.  We have so much testing.  I\u2019m sure the person that drew that headline in the Washington Post will be fired today sometime.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Mr. President, in the state of \u2014 in the state of Texas, I know, for six weeks, any employee of mine could go to numerous places and get tested and not even stand in line.  So when I watch and see everything that people cannot get tested in America \u2014 and I don\u2019t know about all the other states, but I do have employees that have been tested in other states \u2014 I just follow it closer.  There has not been an issue of people getting tested.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you for saying that.  And it\u2019s true all over.  And, you know, they sort of knew it, but \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  And we were even tested here this morning.  (Laughs.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  See, I think \u2014 I think he should be entitled to it now, Steve, definitely.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>MR. KUSHNER:  And, Mr. President \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, no, we\u2019ve done \u2014 really, it\u2019s been an amazing \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  One hundred percent.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  \u2014 it\u2019s been an amazing job.  It\u2019s been an amazing job.  We\u2019ve made a lot of governors look good.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KUSHNER:  Yes.  And, Mr. President, I will say: Yesterday, you had your number-one day in America \u2014 422,000 tests performed.  And you\u2019re about eleven and a half million tests performed now in the U.S., thanks to your leadership.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Numbers that would have been unthinkable.  I think you could say that.  Right?  Numbers that would have been \u2014 Jon, those are numbers that could have been talked about, nobody would have believed it.  So, anyway, you know \u2014 so \u2014 please.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  Mr. President, like yourself, I\u2019m a New Yorker and a career changer.  I was a former bond trader at Goldman Sachs and now I own restaurants in Brooklyn, most notably Lilia and Misi in Williamsburg.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Good.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  We help make every day a good day.<\/p>\n<p>Along with Thomas and Will, we\u2019re founding members of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, and we\u2019re grateful to have a seat at this table for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>The impact catalyzed by this pandemic is enormous.  The prolonged economic shutdown created challenges for our industry that has to be met with policy to inject liquidity, investment, consumption, and hiring.  The immediate and coordinated response by your administration to support out-of-work employees was inspiring, and it should make us all proud to be Americans.<\/p>\n<p>The intention of PPP to support small businesses and restaurants was pragmatic and encouraging.  We have all agreed that it wasn\u2019t perfect, but we\u2019re working on it, to fix it so that it could help us.  But we need those fixes now.  Like me, I have it and I can\u2019t use it.  I\u2019m in the clock zone of eight weeks.  PPP is a bridge \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So do you agree with what they\u2019re saying in terms of timing?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  Immediately.  It must happen.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And you agree with the 24 number?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  Yes.  Absolutely.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Did you guys meet before this or something?  (Laughter.)  No, did you have a little meeting to discuss this perhaps?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  We \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, okay.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  Well \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Now I feel better because everyone is \u2014 exactly wants the same thing.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  What is \u2014 what is incredible about this Independent Restaurant Coalition, this did not exist seven weeks ago.  Restaurant owners didn\u2019t talk to each other \u2014 ever.  And we were able to \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I bring people together.  You\u2019ve seen that in government.  I bring the Democrats together with the Republicans, right?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  And it was a \u2014 it\u2019s been a beautiful thing.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I\u2019m only kidding.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  We\u2019ve been able to \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  We\u2019ve been able to talk.  We\u2019ve been able to be creative and figure out ways to bring this initiative back.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s great.  I think it\u2019s great.  You got together, and a lot of good suggestions have been made.  And it\u2019s been made uniformly so we really know your opinion, as opposed to having all different ideas<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  That\u2019s correct.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s really great.  It helps.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  So PPP is a bridge that will help restaurants reopen our doors, that will help restaurants reemploy 11 million workers that are currently not working.<\/p>\n<p>In an effort to keep those doors open and to keep our people employed, we\u2019ve proposed a stabilization plan, and we look forward to discussing more in the future with you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Okay.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Great.  How did you go from Goldman Sachs to the restaurant business?  How did that happen?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  David Solomon didn\u2019t think I was very good at bond trading.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Oh, I\u2019ll bet you were.  I\u2019ll bet you were very good.  Are you glad you made that move?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  I am.  It\u2019s changed my life for the better on every \u2014 every facet.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So you \u2014 it\u2019s just \u2014 you love the restaurant business, right?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  I love it.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I have friends that are in the restaurant \u2014 they love the restaurant.  There is no business they want to go into like the restaurant business.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  We view you as one of us.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.  Well, it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  We do.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, no, it\u2019s great.  I know your business very well.  People \u2014 unlike \u2014 well, you know, there are other businesses, but just about as much as any business, they love being in the restaurant business.  So, that\u2019s great.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  It\u2019s good to get out of the \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So you made a good move?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  Oh, yes.  It\u2019s \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Did you make a good move financially?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  I did.  Very \u2014 very well.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  It worked out fine too?<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  Our restaurants are more profitable than the hedge fund that I worked at for seven years.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Wow.  That\u2019s fantastic.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  Yes.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Now we don\u2019t have to give him anything.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  But I \u2014 but I want to go back to that because I want to reopen as soon as possible.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, no, I agree with it.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Okay.  Great.  Good.  Good job, too.  I know the \u2014 the one restaurant I know, it\u2019s great.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FEENEY:  Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Gene?  This is a man of great genes.  His name is Gene, and his father was a terrific gentleman.  You know that, right?  Great talent.  Go ahead, please.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY SCALIA:  And a great mother too, right?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Maybe your mother is even better.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY SCALIA:  (Laughs.)  Well, there are few industries where the workers have been hit as hard as in this particular industry.  As Will was touching on, we announced 20.5 million payroll job losses basically from the middle of March to the middle of April, and 5.5 million of those \u2014 more than a quarter \u2014 were in restaurants.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. President, you saw this coming, and you acted with really extraordinary speed and, I think, as we said, generosity, among other things, in the unemployment benefit that was provided in the CARES Act.<\/p>\n<p>We, at the Labor Department, have been working extremely hard with the states to enable them to make that payment.  As you touched on, they\u2019ve had \u2014 they\u2019ve had some problems because of their computer systems, which are old.  Secretary Mnuchin and I cautioned the Congress that there would be problems.  But we will continue to work with them to get those payments out.<\/p>\n<p>But even as we do that, we know that we\u2019re pivoting and we\u2019re opening.  We\u2019re reopening across the country.  It is \u2014 there are glimmers, and more than that, as we begin that reopening.  And so we will be focusing, too, on helping workers transition from unemployment back onto the job.<\/p>\n<p>And you hear a lot of numbers.  A number that really sticks with me, as a couple different surveys have shown \u2014 federal surveys have shown that 90 percent of workers who are unemployed right now have said it\u2019s temporary.  And I want to make that right.  I want to make that true.  That\u2019s why, Mr. President, you want to safely but promptly reopen.<\/p>\n<p>And so we\u2019ll continue to work with the \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s a very important number.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY SCALIA:  It\u2019s 90 percent.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  If you go into a real big recession \u2014 and you don\u2019t have a number like that.  That\u2019s a tremendous number.  That\u2019s really a great \u2014 it\u2019s a \u2014 it\u2019s a testament.<\/p>\n<p>Because, again, it was artificially turned on and off.  But now it\u2019s off, and we\u2019re going to turn it back on.  It\u2019s been turned on as of \u2014 I don\u2019t know, it almost feels like today is the first day.  I think, last week, it didn\u2019t feel the same.  Now it feels good.  People are starting to go out.  They\u2019re opening.  They get it.<\/p>\n<p>We understand the disease much better than we did when it first came in.  Nobody understood it.  Nobody has ever seen it before.  And it feels much different.  I mean, today is almost like the first day.  But the expression that we like to use \u2014 right? \u2014 \u201ctransition to greatness.\u201d  We\u2019re going to be back.  And what you said is a very important thing.  People expect to go back.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY SCALIA:  And by moving quickly but safely, we get them there.  And I had discussions with several of you about \u2014 about safety.  We\u2019re very focused on that at the Labor Department, giving workers \u2014 and I know you\u2019re focused too on giving customers the confidence as they return.  And we\u2019ll \u2014 we\u2019ll continue to work with CDC and others to help on that front too.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And, Gene, you have to help the truckers also.  Okay?<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY SCALIA:  We\u2019ve been talking with truckers, Mr. President.  I can give you a report.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  You got to \u2014 yeah, because they\u2019ve been out there.  And I\u2019ll tell you, they\u2019re \u2014 they work hard and they have brokers that take a lot of their business away.  They don\u2019t work so hard.  They sit in an office some place.  It\u2019s not good.  So I\u2019d like to help the truckers.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY SCALIA:  Yeah.  Elaine and I have been talking.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  All right?  Good.  Please.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  Mr. President, Secretary Mnuchin, Vice President Pence, Secretary Scalia, thank you for having us here today.  Of course, I\u2019ll echo what everybody else has said \u2014 how proud we are to be sitting here at the White House, in your home, to be able to share some of our struggles and hopes and aspirations.<\/p>\n<p>The restaurant profession is a profession that\u2019s always dynamic \u2014 and you\u2019ve seen that around this table with some of the things that my colleagues are doing \u2014 but we\u2019re also very united, as you\u2019ve seen.  And you just responded to the 24 weeks.  Did we have a meeting before?  Certainly, we had a meeting before.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Very good.  Very good.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  Did we talk about it?  Certainly, we talked about it, because we want to be unified in our approach.  Whether you have 650 restaurants, 2 restaurants, 6 restaurants, a thousand restaurants, it doesn\u2019t really matter \u2014 we all are nurturers at heart.  And we want our restaurants to reopen so that they can nurture our guests, our communities, and finally, our country.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s something to be said for going last, because I just want to agree with everything that everybody else has said around this table.  So I won\u2019t \u2014 I won\u2019t repeat it and bore us with more of the same.  But I will tell you a story \u2014 a personal story.  Two personal stories, if I may.  One about the PPP \u2014 and thank you very much because it\u2019s been a lifesaver in many ways for me.  I have restaurants, of course, where I have not been able to use the PPP yet, but I also have \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And why?  Why is that?<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  Because we can\u2019t open yet.  And there\u2019s no point in me hiring back my staff.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Where?  Where is that?  Where?<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  California, New York, Las Vegas, and South Florida.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I mean, I hear they\u2019re going to keep Los Angeles closed until the end of August.  Is that a fact?<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  That\u2019s a good question.  I\u2019m \u2014 I\u2019m in Napa Valley, but I\u2019m not really sure about Los Angeles.  I\u2019m sorry.<\/p>\n<p>PARTICIPANT:  That is the mayor (inaudible).<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  Yeah.  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s the mayor who wants to do that?<\/p>\n<p>PARTICIPANT:  Yes.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s a death wish.  Because, you know, there\u2019s death on both sides.  You know that.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  There\u2019s death on both sides.  It\u2019s not just a one-way street.  And we solved a big problem, but you have to understand the other side of it too.  And they don\u2019t understand the other side of it.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  Yep.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Okay, please.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  On the other hand, our consumer product goods division, where we have four different businesses, has been thriving.  And we have taken our PPP money and then rehired 100 percent of the staff in those four companies.  So I look at that and I\u2019m extremely thankful and grateful for all the work that you and your team have done so quickly to help us.<\/p>\n<p>On our restaurant side, I echo what everybody else has said.  It\u2019s a little more \u2014 more complicated.  I also want to thank you for voicing your support of BIG, which is our Business Interruption Group, which I started with a couple of other chefs and has grown quite large.  And we\u2019ve started to make some inroads with the insurance companies, certainly with some of the congressmen and some of the senators.  So we continue to work on that for all businesses, not just for restaurant businesses.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, I just want to \u2014 I want to talk about a small farm in Orwell, Vermont \u2014 a small farmer named Diane St. Clair, who is by herself with her husband.  And this is about the supply chain and how important restaurants are in so many different aspects.  But we reduce it down to individuals that we know that we love, that depend on us, as restauranteurs and as chefs.<\/p>\n<p>This is a woman who has eight cows, who gets up every morning, seven days a week, to milk her cows, let them out to pasture, begin to make her butter, bring her cows back at four or five o\u2019clock, milk them again, and put them to bed \u2014 every day.  I am \u2014 I am the sole source of her revenue.  She\u2019s not able to sell her butter anywhere else, so she\u2019s not making butter today.<\/p>\n<p>The impact that restaurants have in our \u2014 in our communities, in our states, and in our country are extraordinary.  We are, in many cases, the first job people have.  My first job was in a restaurant as a dishwasher, making a little less than $3.50, but that was because of my age, and being able to move up.  We are the \u2014 we give people the second chance in restaurants.<\/p>\n<p>And finally, people\u2019s last jobs are in restaurants \u2014 those who are retired and on benefits are augmenting their benefits by working in restaurants.<\/p>\n<p>We don\u2019t really care about your education.  We\u2019re not concerned about where you come from, your religious beliefs.  We are open to everybody.  We employ the most women of anybody, besides the federal government.  The most single-parent women.  It\u2019s just extraordinary how \u2014 how much we embrace our entire country and what we do.<\/p>\n<p>And what we do at heart is we nurture.  I became a chef \u2014 and I remember the day I decided to become a chef; I\u2019d been cooking for several years.  July 1977, in Narragansett, Rhode Island \u2014 working for a French chef named Roland Henin who asked me one day, \u201cWhy do cooks cook?\u201d  And I was certainly intimidated.  I was young.  And I said, \u201cChef, I don\u2019t know.  Why do cooks cook?  He said, \u201cWe cook to nurture people.\u201d  And there was something inside of me that that resonated with, and I embraced the idea of nurturing people.<\/p>\n<p>And I have 1,200 employees.  There are over 1,180 who are unemployed today that I desperately want to bring back to work so that we can not only nurture each other, but nurture those who come into our restaurants.<\/p>\n<p>Again, I want to thank you for having us here today.  I want to thank all my colleagues for articulating everything that we wanted to say in such a profound way, and I appreciate the opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>So thank you, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  Beautiful story with a woman with the eight cows.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  You wouldn\u2019t think that.  Restauranteurs do \u2014 especially, I guess, some with an individual restaurant or a couple of restaurants.  They do that a lot, don\u2019t they?  They buy directly.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  They do.  Yeah.  We support so many small farms around the country.  I started an initiative called Big Hearts and Small Farms with five other chefs, just so that we can offer people an opportunity to buy some of the \u2014 some of the food from some of these small farms around the country.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Tilman doesn\u2019t do that.  I don\u2019t think you do that with your eight cows.  Right?  (Laughter.)  He doesn\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  It\u2019s a little different, but \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No, it\u2019s a great \u2014 it\u2019s a great \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  \u2014 it goes from the very small to the very big, and that\u2019s what restaurants are all about.  And I\u2019m proud to be part of this community.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  What\u2019s the difference in butter?  Tell me.  The difference in butter between what she sells you and what you would normally be able to buy.  Out of curio- \u2014 I don\u2019t want to \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  It\u2019s \u2014 it is extraordinary because it is \u2014 it is truly a seasonal product, so the butter changes flavor and color depending on the season.  So in the early \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE VICE PRESIDENT:  There\u2019s no comparison.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  \u2014 in the spring, when they\u2019re eating green, when they\u2019re grazing on grass \u2014 green grass \u2014 the butter is \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s fantastic.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  \u2014 a beautiful orange hue.  And, of course, in the summertime, it turns lighter because they\u2019re eating hay.  So \u2014 and the flavors taste \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Mike just said there is no comparison.  He knows.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  There\u2019s a \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  He knows.  (Inaudible) from Indiana.  He knows.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  There\u2019s a tremendous \u2014 a tremendous difference in the butter from \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No kidding.  So, that\u2019s good.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  Oh, yeah.  It\u2019s extraordinary.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And \u2014 and you probably pay less too, right?<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  Well, I don\u2019t know how much I pay.  It\u2019s not about how much I pay \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Would \u2014 no, but would \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  \u2014 it\u2019s about supporting her and what she\u2019s trying to do.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Right.  But would you pay less, generally speaking, when you do those things you do directly with a farm?<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  You know, when we deal directly with the farmers, I never talk about price; it\u2019s always about quality.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  Because we\u2019re \u2014 we\u2019re about quality \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Okay.  Good.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  \u2014 and building relationships with people, building \u2014 I\u2019ve been buying Diane\u2019s butter for \u2014 for over 20 years.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No kidding.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  She \u2014 she did tell me one time \u2014 I\u2019ll tell you a little story again, if I can \u2014 that she had to raise the price of her butter.  And I said, \u201cDiane, I really don\u2019t know how much your butter costs, but I appreciate you telling me this.\u201d  And she says, \u201cBut I also want to tell you why.\u201d  And I said, \u201cOkay, tell me why, Diane.\u201d  She said, \u201cMy son was accepted at NYU, and I need to pay for his tuition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is what happens when a guest goes into a restaurant and spends a dollar.<\/p>\n<p>THE VICE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Good.<\/p>\n<p>THE VICE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  You\u2019re supporting all of these people.  You\u2019re supporting this young man who\u2019s going to get a degree from NYU.  Do I \u2014 do my \u2014 should I \u2014 should I, you know, negotiate with her on price?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  No.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I think it\u2019s great.  Thank you very much.  Beautiful.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KELLER:  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Okay, Mike.<\/p>\n<p>THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I think the \u2014 I think the media wants us to go quickly.  Look at Jon.  He\u2019s, \u201cOh\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.  I\u2019ll be \u2014 I\u2019ll go very quick.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  He wants to hit us with a question so badly.<\/p>\n<p>THE VICE PRESIDENT:  (Laughs.)  Well, thank you, Mr. President.  And I have had the great privilege of sitting in this room, alongside the President, on many occasions over the last three and a half years.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know that I\u2019ve ever been more inspired by the optimism, the resilience, the love of what you do, and the people that you employ, and the people that you serve than I\u2019ve been today.<\/p>\n<p>So thank you all for sharing your stories.  The President has brought together here the \u2014 our top economic team, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of the Labor, all the people that have been involved in standing up the whole-of-government response.<\/p>\n<p>But from the standpoint of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, let me just say thank you.  This industry \u2014 650,000 restaurants strong \u2014 had to make very, very hard choices.  I want to assure you \u2014 you said, Sean, that you all consider the President to be one of you.  And I can tell you, my friend considers himself to be one of you, and he always will.  And \u2014 but he understood, when we asked the American people and we asked businesses like the thousands represented here to shut down, to \u2014 to go to drive-through services, to find ways to innovate, to meet your customers, we knew the sacrifices that were involved in that.<\/p>\n<p>The President directed our economic team to find a way \u2014 Paycheck Protection \u2014 to stand up and come alongside.  But your decision, your companies\u2019 decision to put the health of your employees, the health of your customers, the health of your community first saved lives, and you are to be commended.  On behalf of the President and all of us who\u2019ve worked seven days a week on this issue here at the national level, I want to say thank you.<\/p>\n<p>The President and I are going to dismiss in a few minutes and we\u2019re going to go to our weekly call with America\u2019s governors.  And I\u2019m proud, as the President is, that as we sit here today, 48 states have announced plans to reopen.  It was a month ago the President had our task force release a plan to open up America again.  And America is opening back up.  And I just want to assure you that the counsel that you have given us today will continue to inform ways that we can support not just this industry and the communities, but support your state\u2019s efforts to safely and responsibly reopen and put America back to work.<\/p>\n<p>One last thing, Mr. President.  One of the great success stories of this pandemic has been that the food supply has not been interrupted.  And I honestly didn\u2019t know, Mr. President, before we got into this, that roughly half of America\u2019s food needs are met in restaurants and in those 650,000 establishments that we\u2019re talking about here today.<\/p>\n<p>And through this pandemic, not only did you innovate, you found ways to continue to meet that food need of \u2014 and keep food on the table of Americans, but I also heard just a week ago that it was restaurants that were transferring what you had in storage to your local grocery stores, to your local food banks, to make sure that Americans didn\u2019t miss any meals in the course of this pandemic.  So for all those reasons, I say thank you.  And just know that in this President and in this entire team,  we\u2019re going to be partners with you, and we\u2019re going to bring back America and all of America\u2019s great restaurants bigger and better than ever before.  And it\u2019s going to be sooner than you think.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Mike, what are the two states that did not open?<\/p>\n<p>THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Forty-eight states have released plans.  There\u2019s two that are \u2014 we expect them to be releasing plans very soon.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Who are they?<\/p>\n<p>THE VICE PRESIDENT:  I\u2019ll get that to you before we talk to the governors.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Connecticut is one.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Is Connecticut \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  We have restaurants there, and we can\u2019t do anything.  (Laughs.)  So \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  It\u2019ll open.  It\u2019ll happen quickly.<\/p>\n<p>So just briefly, the Paycheck Protection Program has delivered over $30 billion in aid to more than 250,000 restaurants.  Up to 95 percent of that funding is going directly to the worker\u2019s payroll.  You know that?<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, the SBA published the loan forgiveness application, which ensures that all businesses, including restaurants, will not be penalized as long as they make good-faith efforts to rehire all of their employees, you know that.<\/p>\n<p>I signed a bill providing federally funded pay to sick people \u2014 people that are sick \u2014 and for family leave.  So you\u2019re have for sick and family leave, and that\u2019s a very important bill.  So you have federally funded paid sick and family leave.  And I think some of you are taking advantage of that.<\/p>\n<p>Businesses can defer paying income taxes until July 15th.  We gave that extension.  Businesses can claim tax refunds by deducting their losses from the 2018 through 2020 against taxes they paid for the previous five years.  That\u2019s a big deal.<\/p>\n<p>And then, as you know, we\u2019re going to Congress \u2014 and this is more pertinent to what we\u2019re talking about, because you knew all of what I just said.  You\u2019ve been living through it.  Restore the restaurant deduction to help jobless restaurant workers.  So if a company pays or somebody pays, they get a deduction.  That\u2019s going to create a tremendous amount of business.  I think you\u2019re going to have to open a lot of additional restaurants in this country.  I think it\u2019s, frankly, more important than even the other things we\u2019re talking about.  I guess, short term, what you\u2019re talking about, is more important, but long term, the deduction would be phenomenal.<\/p>\n<p>Create an \u201cExplore America\u201d \u2014 that\u2019s \u201cExplore,\u201d right?  Explore America tax credit that Americans can use for domestic travel, including visits to restaurants.  That\u2019s a big deal.<\/p>\n<p>Grant restaurants more flexibility under the PPP.  That\u2019s what we\u2019re talking about \u2014 right?<\/p>\n<p>And protect workers and businesses alike with curbs on frivolous litigation \u2014 frivolous litigation, a thing I know something about.  There\u2019s a lot of frivolous litigation.  So we don\u2019t want somebody going and sitting in your restaurant, Tilman, and then suing you for $10 million, because \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  (Inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  \u2014 something happened.  And they\u2019ll do it anyway.  No matter what we give you, they\u2019re going to do it anyway, you know that.<\/p>\n<p>So, I thank you all for being here.  We\u2019ll take a couple of questions, Jon.  And if you have any questions for these great restaurateurs, please ask.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Well, Mr. President, first question for you.  Attorney General Barr says he is unlikely to have any criminal investigation of either Barack Obama or Joe Biden.  You\u2019ve been talking about what you call \u201cthe greatest political crime in American history.\u201d  What do you think of Mr. Barr\u2019s decision here?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I think if it was me, they would do it.  I think for them, maybe they\u2019re not going to.  I don\u2019t know.  I\u2019m surprised, because Obama knew everything that was happening.  I don\u2019t think Bi- \u2014 Obama knows where he \u2014 where he, you know, is, in a lot of ways.  I saw his statements the other day and I think that, frankly, they weren\u2019t very good.  That\u2019s President Obama.<\/p>\n<p>As far as Biden is concerned, I can\u2019t \u2014 that, I can\u2019t tell you.  Only he knows what he knows.  So I don\u2019t think he knows too much.<\/p>\n<p>But I think Obama and Biden knew about it.  They were participants, but \u2014 so I\u2019m a little surprised by that statement.  I don\u2019t think he said it quite the way you said it.  I think he said as of this moment, I guess.  But if it was me, I guarantee they\u2019d be going after me.  In his case, they\u2019re not, so I think it\u2019s just a continuation of a double standard.  I\u2019m surprised by it.  I\u2019m surprised by it.<\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s where it is.  And I don\u2019t know what he said about this.  You have to understand, I was coming into this room as that statement was being made, so I don\u2019t know exactly.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Well, he said, \u201cWe cannot allow this process\u2026\u201d \u2014 the legal process \u2014 \u201c\u2026to be hijacked by efforts to drum up criminal\u2026\u201d \u2014 allegations \u2014 \u201c\u2026investigations of either candidate.\u201d  He seemed to be suggesting \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I think you\u2019d have to ask him what that means, because I\u2019m in no position to tell you that.  I\u2019ve stayed away from it.  I\u2019m relying on the Attorney General to do the job.  And so I don\u2019t know exactly what he said because I was in this room.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Would you be disappointed if there is no criminal investigation of Biden or Obama?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I don\u2019t say disappointed or not, but I have no doubt that they were involved in this hoax \u2014 one of the worst things ever to befall this country in terms of political scandal.  I have absolutely no doubt that Obama and Biden were involved.<\/p>\n<p>And as to whether or not it was criminal, I would think it would be very serious.  Very, very serious.  It was a takedown of a President, regardless of me.  It happened to be me.  And, in my opinion, it was an illegal takedown.  And \u2014 but, I\u2019m going to let the Attorney General make all of those decisions.  I\u2019ve stayed out of it because it\u2019s the appropriate thing to do.  I wouldn\u2019t have to stay out of it, as you know, but I\u2019ve decided to stay out of it.<\/p>\n<p>So I would say that I heard that just a little while ago, a few minutes ago.  I\u2019ll have to look at it exactly as to what was said, what was meant.  I will say this: We have an honorable Attorney General.  He\u2019s going to do an honorable job.  He\u2019s a very honorable man, and he\u2019s going to do a very honorable job.  But I am surprised only in that I have no doubt \u2014 personally, I have no doubt, but he may have another feeling.  I have no doubt that they were involved in it.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a hoax.  It started off with a Russian hoax.  They went to a Ukraine hoax.  It\u2019s just a whole big disgrace.  And this country has better things to do.  It\u2019s a disgrace.  What they\u2019ve done to this country with these phony investigations \u2014 the Mueller investigation was a waste of time from day one.  They knew it was a waste of time.  It proved to be a waste of time.  I think there are a lot of bad people involved, and they should pay a very big price if they were caught.<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019ll see what happens, but I rely on the Attorney General.  He\u2019s a very honorable man.<\/p>\n<p>Okay.  Any other questions?<\/p>\n<p>Q      Mr. President, do you agree with Peter Navarro, who said the CDC let the country down, in terms of testing?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I think they work very hard.  Don\u2019t forget, they\u2019ve been here for many years.  It\u2019s not \u2014 they don\u2019t work for me; they work for the country.  They\u2019ve \u2014 they\u2019ve worked very hard.  We \u2014 when we took over, in terms of, you know, getting involved, Mike headed up the task force, he worked with CDC.  And I could ask Mike to give you part \u2014 you know, part of it.<\/p>\n<p>But, I will say, they originally \u2014 they had no test and one of the tests had a problem very early on, but that was quickly remedied and now we have the best tests anywhere in the world.  I think we \u2014 I give ourselves a lot of that credit: a lot of the brilliant people that worked on testing, a lot of the brilliant people that worked on the ventilators to a point where we have the best testing in the world.  We have the best ventilators and distribution and the most ventilators in the world.  It\u2019s not even close.<\/p>\n<p>So, I can\u2019t tell you \u2014 I would like to ask Mike that question.  CDC \u2014 you work with them all the time, certainly much more than I do, Mike.<\/p>\n<p>THE VICE PRESIDENT:  We do, Mr. President.  And let me say, I think \u2014 I think Peter Navarro\u2019s point was that CDC and our public health labs at the state level were operating with an arcane testing system, and it was one of the reasons why early on we brought in all of the commercial labs around the country, the President created a consortium of these commercial labs, and we reinvented testing in America.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the reason why, at the end of February, we had done a total of 8,400 tests at that time, using state and public labs and the CDC labs.  But because of the President\u2019s efforts with \u2014 with basically innovating testing in America, we now have reached 11 million tests.  I think you heard the statistics: more than 400,000 tests yesterday.<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re actually hearing \u2014 as the President said earlier, we\u2019re hearing reports of excess capacity that \u2014 I think the State of New York, Governor Cuomo, reportedly has the ability to test 15,000 people a day, but they were only testing 5,000 people.  We\u2019re \u2014 we\u2019ve heard the same reports from Florida and other states around the country.<\/p>\n<p>But again, it\u2019s all a testament to the fact that President Trump essentially brought in the power of the private marketplace, private laboratories, reinvented testing in America.  And that\u2019s how we\u2019ve been able to be at a place where, as we talk about opening up America, every state in America today has the testing capacity and the supplies to be able to move into phase one reopening.  And we\u2019re going to continue to make that a reality.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  We\u2019ve made a lot of governors look very good, that I can tell you.  I\u2019m reading some of the reviews on some of the governors.  And they\u2019re getting these reviews \u2014 well, we were able to get them ventilators that they didn\u2019t have.  We were able to get them testing that they still wouldn\u2019t have.  We were able to get them a lot of things that they didn\u2019t have, including helping them fill up their stockpiles.  Who \u2014 which really they should have had done.  They didn\u2019t \u2014 they weren\u2019t supposed to be using us for that.  But we\u2019ve made a lot of governors look very good, and that\u2019s, frankly, good because it\u2019s good for our country.<\/p>\n<p>Okay?<\/p>\n<p>Q    Mr. President \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah?<\/p>\n<p>Q    Why did you pass up an opportunity to speak to the World Health Organization earlier at their virtual meeting today?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I chose not to make a statement today.  I\u2019ll be giving them a statement sometime in the near future, but I\u2019m \u2014 I chose not to give a statement.  I think they\u2019ve done a very sad job in the last period of time.<\/p>\n<p>And again, the United States pays them $450 million a year; China pays them $38 million a year, and they\u2019re a puppet of China.  They\u2019re China-centric, to put it nicer.  But they\u2019re a puppet of China.<\/p>\n<p>And I think they\u2019ve done a very \u2014 even when I did the ban \u2014 Mike remembers this very well.  When I did the ban, they thought it was inappropriate to do.  I did a ban very early.  If I didn\u2019t do that ban, you would have lost hundreds of thousands of more people in this country.  It was a very important ban.  People don\u2019t like talking about the ban.  No, but it was very important.  I was the only one that wanted to do it, and we did it, and we saved thousands of lives \u2014 hundreds of thousands of lives, probably.  And Dr. Fauci said that, and other people said that.  Deborah said that.  You know that.<\/p>\n<p>But the World Health Organization was against it.  They were against me doing the ban.  They were against \u2014 they said, \u201cYou don\u2019t need it.  It\u2019s too much.  It\u2019s too severe.  It\u2019s too\u2026\u201d \u2014 all of these things.  And they turned out to be wrong.<\/p>\n<p>Sleepy Joe Biden said the same thing.   He came out, he said I was xenophobic.  Do you believe that one, Tilman?  I was xenophobic because I said you can\u2019t come in if you come from China.  You can\u2019t come into our country.  Very early.  And Biden said I was xenophobic.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  (Inaudible) while Nancy was walking through Chinatown in San Francisco at the same time.  (Laughs.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Ah, this is my guy.  (Laughter.)  We always got along, didn\u2019t we?  Huh?  \u201cThe twins,\u201d they call us.<\/p>\n<p>So, no it\u2019s \u2014 it\u2019s a very sad \u2014 a very sad thing.  So I\u2019m not happy with the World Health Organization.  And guess what?  There\u2019s some of the people around this table who would understand, being in business, in some cases international \u2014 I\u2019m not happy with the World Trade Organization at all either.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Mr. President, can you explain, sir, why you decided to fire the inspector general at the State Department?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, I don\u2019t know him at all.  I never even heard of him, but I was asked to by the State Department, by Mike.  I offered \u2014 most of my people, almost all of them \u2014 I said, \u201cYou know, these are Obama appointees.  And if you\u2019d like to let him go, I think you should let them go, but that\u2019s up to you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s an Obama employee.  I understand he had a lot of problems with the DOD.  There was an investigation on him \u2014 on the inspector general.  I don\u2019t know anything about it.<\/p>\n<p>So I don\u2019t know him.  I never heard of him.  But they asked me to terminate him.  I have the absolute right, as President, to terminate.  I\u2019ve said, \u201cWho appointed him?\u201d  And they said, \u201cPresident Obama.\u201d  I said, \u201cLook, I\u2019ll terminate him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on other than that, but you\u2019d have to ask Mike Pompeo.  But they did ask me to do it and I did it.  I have the right to terminate the inspector generals.  And I would have \u2014 I would have suggested \u2014 and I did suggest, in pretty much all cases, you get rid of the attorney generals, because it happens to be very political, whether you like it or not.  And many of these people were Obama appointments, and so I just got rid of him.<\/p>\n<p>Q    And you got some criticism from Democrats in Congress who are saying this is a pattern of you \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, I know.<\/p>\n<p>Q    \u2014 trying to avoid having accountability.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, I know.  And if I didn\u2019t fire him, they would have criticized me too.  They\u2019d criticize no matter what you do.  You know, if you have too many ventilators, they\u2019ll say, \u201cGee, he has too many ventilators.\u201d  If you don\u2019t have enough, they\u2019ll say, \u201cHe doesn\u2019t have enough.\u201d  No matter what you do, between that and their partner, the fake news media, they\u2019ll find something.<\/p>\n<p>No, I don\u2019t know the gentleman.  I was happy to do it.  Mike requested that I do it.  He should have done it a long time ago, in my opinion.  He is an Obama appointment and he had some difficulty.  But I just don\u2019t know who he is.  I really \u2014 I don\u2019t know.  I never heard his name.<\/p>\n<p>Q    But do you believe there is a role for inspector generals to keep an administration like yours \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, but I think they have to be fair.<\/p>\n<p>Q    \u2014 or anyone else\u2019s accountable?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Sure.  But I think they have to be fair.  And I think it\u2019s a death wish when you \u2014 and I told my people, I said, \u201cI think you should, you know, study your situation but let us know.\u201d  I think we\u2019ve been treated very unfairly by inspector generals.  I can go into instances, but I\u2019m not going to do it now.<\/p>\n<p>But the inspector generals, when they\u2019re put in by Obama \u2014 just like it could be that if they were put in by me and it was somebody else\u2019s administration, especially the other party, it could very well be that you\u2019d be treated unfairly.  But we\u2019ve had a lot of cases where we thought that was unfair.<\/p>\n<p>So, yeah, they asked me to do that.  I think the big thing is that they should have asked me to do it a long time ago.<\/p>\n<p>Q    But if you said you don\u2019t know him, sir, what was he doing that was treating you unfairly?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I don\u2019t know.  I don\u2019t know anything about him.  I don\u2019t know.  I don\u2019t know anything about him other than the State Department \u2014 and Mike, in particular \u2014 I guess they weren\u2019t happy with the job he\u2019s doing or something.  So, because it\u2019s my right to do it, I said, \u201cSure, I\u2019ll do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve gotten rid of a lot of inspector generals; every President has.  I think every President has gotten rid of probably more than I have.  A lot of our people kept the Obama inspector general, and I think, generally speaking, that\u2019s not a good thing to do, but they\u2019ve kept them.<\/p>\n<p>But I told them \u2014 for three years I said, \u201cAnybody who wants to get rid of their inspector generals because they were appointed by President Obama, I think you should do so.\u201d  Some of them didn\u2019t, but now they\u2019re doing \u2014 a couple of them are doing it now.<\/p>\n<p>Yeah, go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Mr. President, there is an appearance of a conflict of interest that Secretary Pompeo is asking you to fire an inspector general that\u2019s investigating \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That I can\u2019t tell you.  I don\u2019t \u2014 I don\u2019t think so.  I think maybe he thinks he\u2019s being treated unfairly.<\/p>\n<p>Again, he wanted to \u2014 he asked me if that would be possible.  I said, \u201cI\u2019ll do that.  Sure.\u201d  I think it should have been done a long time ago, frankly.  And this is a man that has had some controversy \u2014 this inspector general.  But \u2014 so again, I don\u2019t know anything.  I haven\u2019t even read much about him.  I see that it\u2019s a little bit of a story \u2014 not much of a story, because everybody agrees that I have the absolute right to fire the inspector generals.  I think they should have done it a long time ago.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, please.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Mr. President, some of these executives today told you they expect the recovery to be a little bumpy; it could take a little \u2014 take a little while.  Are you forecasting a faster bounce back?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I think they\u2019re forecasting a very fast bounce back.  I mean, I see great optimism, though.  These are big restaurant people that are really up on the business.  They\u2019re very successful.  They\u2019ve been very successful.  They\u2019ll be, I think even more successful again, especially if we get deductibility.<\/p>\n<p>And no, I really enjoyed this meeting.  This was a long meeting for me.  You know, normally I wouldn\u2019t stay at a meeting this long, Tilman, but I liked hearing about your great basketball team.  I didn\u2019t know those guys got paid $40 [million].  I thought they made $25 [million}.  That\u2019s interesting.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  Well, for the record: My casino in Louisiana opened up today, and it opened up extremely, extremely busy in Louisiana.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Good.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  So \u2014 so that\u2019s good to know that people are coming out.  So \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s great.  What you do works, you know.  I\u2019ve watched you for a long time, and what you do works.  We\u2019re very proud of you.<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  I appreciate that, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Great job.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Sir, you sounded \u2014 you sounded genuinely surprised about this PPP extension proposal.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Why was I surprised?  You mean that they\u2019d ask for it?  Why would I be surprised?<\/p>\n<p>Q    You \u2014 you sounded surprised that they would \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  They want it.  Of course, they going to ask \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Q    \u2014 that they prefer that over the \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I\u2019m surprised that\u2019s all they asked for, actually.<\/p>\n<p>Q    \u2014 the deductibility.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I know too many of these people.  I\u2019m surprised that\u2019s all they asked for.  No, I think what they\u2019re asking for is very reasonable, Steve.  You know, I mean, we\u2019re going to have to go and get it approved.  And again, we \u2014 we\u2019ve saved and we\u2019ll continue to save the restaurant business.  And ultimately we\u2019ll be paid back many, many times because they pay a lot of taxes, you know?<\/p>\n<p>Q    Mr. President, have you made a \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And they really \u2014 they create tremendous numbers of jobs.  Think of that.  You know, 600- \u2014 650,000 restaurants.  Who would think that\u2019s even possible?<\/p>\n<p>Q    Have you made a final decision to fully defund the W- \u2014 our contribution of the WHO, going forward?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I have a concept, because we paid 450 thousand.  And somebody came out \u2014 because we have different ideas.  One was that \u2014 I mean, I could ask these brilliant people.  So we helped fund the World Health Organization.  We use it like everyone else does.  They gave us a lot of very bad advice \u2014 terrible advice.  They were wrong so much.  Always on the side of China.<\/p>\n<p>China paid $40 million last year.  And we\u2019ve been paying $450 million a year for many years.  Somehow that doesn\u2019t work out too well.  So I was thinking about bringing our 450 down to 40.  And some people thought that was too much.  So we\u2019re going to make a decision fairly soon.  But I think it\u2019s very unfair when we\u2019re paying 450.  For many, many years we\u2019ve been paying 300, 400, 450, almost 500 sometimes.  And we\u2019re not treated right.<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re not treated by World Trade \u2014 we\u2019re not treated right either.  The World Trade Organization.  China, there, is considered a developing nation.  If you\u2019re a developing nation, you get massive tax advantages and other advantages.  Well, I want the United States to be a developing nation then, okay?  We should get the same advantages as China gets.  Why should China get advantages over the United States?  Because they got somebody to say they\u2019re a developing nation.  And so that\u2019s under review also.<\/p>\n<p>Q    And then, Mr. President, Secretary Pompeo was reportedly under investigation both for having staffers do personal errands, like walking his dog and picking up his dry cleaning, and concerns that he may have subverted the will of Congress with Saudi \u2014 deals with \u2014 Saudi arms deals.  Are you concerned that he may have made this request to avoid an investigation (inaudible)?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I don\u2019t know anything about it.  I heard about it the same time maybe you heard about it.  I don\u2019t know anything about it.  I mean, you mean he\u2019s under investigation because he had somebody walk his dog from the government?  I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Are you worried (inaudible)?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  It doesn\u2019t sound \u2014 I don\u2019t think it sounds like that important.  I mean, you have a man that\u2019s supposed to be \u2014 and he\u2019s a brilliant guy, number one at West Point, number one at Harvard, I believe \u2014 Harvard Law School \u2014 or close.  And \u2014 but he was number one at West Point.  Number one at Harvard Law School, or very close to number one.  And they\u2019re bothered because he\u2019s having somebody walk his dog, is you\u2019re telling me?  I didn\u2019t know that.  I didn\u2019t hear that.  I didn\u2019t know about an investigation.<\/p>\n<p>But this is what you get with the Democrats.  Here\u2019s a man supposed to be negotiating war and peace with major, major countries, with weaponry like the world has never seen before.  And the Democrats and the fake news media \u2014 they\u2019re interested in a man who is walking their dog.  And maybe he\u2019s busy and maybe he\u2019s negotiating with Kim Jong Un \u2014 okay? \u2014 about nuclear weapons, so that he\u2019d say, \u201cPlease, could you walk my dog?  Do you mind walking my dog?  I\u2019m talking to Kim Jong Un.\u201d  Or \u201cI\u2019m talking to President Xi about paying us for some of the damage they\u2019ve caused to the world and to us.  Please walk my dog.\u201d  To who?  A Secret Service person or somebody, right?<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know.  I think this country has a long way to go.  They \u2014 the priorities are really screwed up when I read this.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I don\u2019t know anything about the investigation, but you\u2019re just telling me about walking a dog.  And what did you say?  Doing dishes?<\/p>\n<p>Q    Saudi arms deals, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  What Saudi arms deals?  Explain.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Congress passed a law to restrict sales to Saudi Arabia over certain arms out of concern \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah?<\/p>\n<p>Q    \u2014 over their use in the Yemeni crisis.  So the question is whether Secretary Pompeo tried to subvert the deal with actions that he may have taken (inaudible).<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I don\u2019t think so.  I mean, I think that when somebody pays us a fortune for, you know, arms, we should get the deal done.  I will tell you that.  I don\u2019t \u2014 I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n<p>I know this: that we have countries that want to buy our arms, and we make it so difficult for them that they end up going to Russia and China.  And under my administration, if they\u2019re friendly countries, I try and make it as easy as possible.  If they want to buy our fighter jets, and if they want to give us billions and billions of dollars \u2014 and they have other alternatives, including China, Russia, and others \u2014 I think we should make it as easy as possible for them, and we should take the jobs and take the money because it\u2019s billions of dollars.<\/p>\n<p>And in past administrations, they waited so long that people wouldn\u2019t even want to do business with us.  And one of the things that we\u2019ve done, and we make the greatest equipment in the world by far, and especially now under this administration because we\u2019ve upped the scale a lot, as you know, and we bought a lot.  We\u2019ve totally rearmed our military \u2014 $1.5 trillion.<\/p>\n<p>But if somebody wants to give us billions of dollars to buy an airplane or a number of airplanes and missiles, and all of the other things that we make better than anybody in the world, we should take the money and we should make the deals fast.  I would certainly say that.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Even if it leads to human rights abuses?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Why don\u2019t you take your mask off?  You know, you\u2019re \u2014 just for a second, please.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Even if they \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Don\u2019t worry about Jeff.  Jeff, why don\u2019t you move out of his way so he doesn\u2019t infect you, please?<\/p>\n<p>Q    Sure.  Even if they \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I don\u2019t want you to become infected.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Even if it results in human rights abuses?  That was Congress\u2019s concern with these (inaudible).<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Human rights?<\/p>\n<p>Q    Abuses.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I don\u2019t know.  That, I don\u2019t know.  I mean, you know, you\u2019re telling me something that I never heard of.  Now you\u2019re talking about human rights abuses.  You\u2019ll figure something out, I\u2019m sure.<\/p>\n<p>Look, he\u2019s a high-quality person \u2014 Mike.  He\u2019s a very high quality \u2014 he\u2019s a very brilliant guy.  And now I have you telling me about dog walking, washing dishes.  And you know what?  I\u2019d rather have him on the phone with some world leader than have him wash dishes, because maybe his wife isn\u2019t there or his kids aren\u2019t there.  You know.  What are you telling me?  It\u2019s terrible.  It\u2019s so stupid.  You know how stupid that sounds to the world?  Unbelievable.<\/p>\n<p>Okay.  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Any reaction to President Obama\u2019s speeches over the weekend?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Look, I think he was an incompetent President.  I think President Obama was one of the worst Presidents in the history of our country.  I think he was an incompetent President.  I know what he left us.  He left us a broken military.  He left us a military that ISIS was all over the place, and I got rid of it.  I knocked out 100 percent of the caliphate.  And even you will admit that, Jon.  And when I came in, it was a mess.<\/p>\n<p>But we had a broken military.  We had a depleted military.  We had little on the shelves, if you talk about pandemics.  We had a country that was a mess.  We were paying high taxes.  We were paying it.  And outside of this artificial event that took place two months ago, and I\u2019m going to build the country into stronger and better than it was even then.  And it\u2019s already happening, and you can see it.  You can see it today.  Just take a look at the stock market.  Look at what\u2019s going on.  Look at the great numbers that are being called.  And look at these medical companies calling in.  And we\u2019re talking about more than one.  So many things are happening.<\/p>\n<p>But I think President Obama was an incompetent President.  He did a terrible job.  And, by the way, there was great division in our country with President Obama.  You didn\u2019t see it as much, but there was tremendous division in our country.  Okay?<\/p>\n<p>Q    (Inaudible) division now, too, right?  I mean \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I think we\u2019ll have great, yeah.  You know, success brings.  We had a great success going.  Things were really going along, and then China gave us a wonderful gift.  Okay?  And it wasn\u2019t pretty.  What \u2014 it came out of China.  Just in case you had any questions, Jon.  It didn\u2019t come out of \u2014 it came out of China, spread to Europe, but also came here.  And the whole world became infected by this horrible thing that they unleashed one way or the other.  Not a good situation.  Not a good situation.  I\u2019m not a man that likes taking that.  What happened to us \u2014 and it was totally preventable; they could have stopped it at the source.  They knew it was happening.<\/p>\n<p>We wanted to go in, others wanted to go in.  They wouldn\u2019t let \u2014 they wouldn\u2019t let the world \u2014 as you know, they wouldn\u2019t let \u2014 they wouldn\u2019t let other \u2014 other countries go in.  They wanted \u2014 other countries wanted to.  World Health wanted to, in all fairness to World Health.  They wouldn\u2019t let World Health in.  And we\u2019re a part of World Health.  They wouldn\u2019t let them in either.  They could have stopped that at the source, and they chose not to.<\/p>\n<p>And yet, they stopped them from going to Wuhan into different parts of China.  So you couldn\u2019t go into Beijing.  What do you think of that, Tilman?  You couldn\u2019t go into China.  But I better not get you involved in it \u2014 China.  You got enough problems with \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. FERTITTA:  All of my restaurants in China are back though.  They are doing business.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I\u2019m asking \u2014 I\u2019m asking the \u2014 an interesting guy that question.  But seriously, look \u2014 they wouldn\u2019t let them into China, but they\u2019d let them into Europe and they\u2019d let them into all over the world, including the United States.  It\u2019s lucky I did the ban.  That\u2019s all I can tell you.  It\u2019s lucky I did the ban.<\/p>\n<p>Okay.  How about one or two more?  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>Q    (Inaudible) how you\u2019re going to specifically make China be held responsible?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I\u2019m not going to tell you that question.  Why would I tell you?<\/p>\n<p>Go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Will they be held responsible?  Will you \u2014 will you take steps to hold China \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.  China should be held responsible for what they\u2019ve done.  They have hurt the world very, very badly.  They\u2019ve hurt themselves also.  But they\u2019ve hurt the world very, very badly.  Yeah, they should be held responsible.  Okay?<\/p>\n<p>Q    Sir, you tweeted recently that this whole whistleblower racket needs to be looked at very closely \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Sure.<\/p>\n<p>Q    \u2014 and it is causing a great injustice \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Sure.  I had a fake whistleblower.<\/p>\n<p>Q    \u2014 and harm.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Sure.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Who should look \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I had a fake whistleblower originally.  He was a faker.  Because when he looked at my \u2014 he wrote down a conversation that was totally different from the conversation I actually had with the President of Ukraine.  It was a fake whistleblower.  And, by the way, everybody knows who he is.  He\u2019s a political operative.  You know that.  Jon knows who he is.  You know him better than anybody, Jon.  Right?  He\u2019s a faker, and he was a fake whistleblower, and it was a phony, disgraceful period of time.  And we came out well.  You know why we came out well?  Because everyone recognized it for what it was: just a political witch hunt.<\/p>\n<p>But he was a fake whistleblower.  He wrote a story that bore no resemblance to the conversation that I had with the President of Uk- \u2014 Ukraine.  Nothing whatsoever.  And by the way, the inspector general, he went by the whistleblower.  He didn\u2019t want to see the conversation that I had.  When he saw the conversation that I had, he said, \u201cWell, that bears no resemblance to what the whistleblower said.\u201d  Why didn\u2019t he look first before he ran to Congress?  He ran to Congress like he couldn\u2019t get there fast enough with a whistleblower report.<\/p>\n<p>But when they offered him to see the actual conversation \u2014 and we called the head of Ukraine, and we said, \u201cWe\u2019d like to expose the conversation that we had, if you don\u2019t mind.\u201d  He said, \u201cWhat was wrong with that?\u201d  That conversation, as I say, was perfect.  It was a perfect conversation.  Not a thing said wrong.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why we had, other than half a vote from Romney \u2014 and Romney is a, you know, loser \u2014 but other than a half a vote we had from Romney, I got 52 and a half percent to a half.  In the House, we got 196 to nothing \u2014 196 to nothing.  The Republicans were so unified not because they all liked me, but because they knew this was a horrible thing that happened.<\/p>\n<p>But he was a fake whistleblower.  He reported on a conversation that didn\u2019t happen, just like Shifty Schiff.  Shifty Schiff went up before Congress, and because he has immunity \u2014 in other words, you can\u2019t put them in jail be- \u2014 if he lies in front \u2014 because they have immunity in the halls of Congress, in the Great Hall.<\/p>\n<p>So he made a statement that was totally different from what I said.  You know that.  Eight times \u201cquid pro quo.\u201d  There were no quid pro quos.  Nothing.  Zero.  Eight times \u2014 over and over again.  And he made it as though that was the conversation, but he knew that wasn\u2019t the conversation I had.<\/p>\n<p>And anyplace else, he would\u2019ve been thrown out of office and put in jail for what he did, but he had immunity because he made it in the halls \u2014 it should be the opposite:  If you make a statement like that, if you lie in Con- \u2014 you should get double penalties.  Okay?<\/p>\n<p>So, you know, that\u2019s the way it goes.  So you had a phony whistleblower.  And this other guy with the hydroxychloroquine \u2014 okay? \u2014 well, he \u2014 he went out and he\u2019s the one that approved the hydroxychloroquine.  He\u2019s the one that signed the application.  He also happens to be \u2014 if you look \u2014 see whether or not \u2014 I won\u2019t put it on me; I\u2019ll put it on you.  See whether or not he was a big contributor to the Democrats.  See whether or not he wanted the Democrats to win.  No, there\u2019s a lot of bad things coming out about him, but you people don\u2019t want to write the \u2014 the news.<\/p>\n<p>You know, but \u2014 if you look \u2014 but he\u2019s the one that signed the application.  The very important form, he signed it.  Now, if he doesn\u2019t believe in it, why would he sign it?  And a lot of good things have come out about the hydroxy.  A lot of good things have come out.  You\u2019d be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the frontline workers \u2014 before you catch it.<\/p>\n<p>The frontline workers \u2014 many, many are taking it.  I happen to be taking it.  I happen to be taking it.<\/p>\n<p>Q    You\u2019re taking hydroxychloroquine?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I\u2019m taking it \u2014 hydroxychloroquine.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Right now?<\/p>\n<p>Q    When \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Right now.  Yeah.  A couple of weeks ago, I started taking it.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Why, sir?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Because I think it\u2019s good.  I\u2019ve heard a lot of good stories.  And if it\u2019s not good, I\u2019ll tell you right \u2014 you know, I\u2019m not going to get hurt by it.  It\u2019s been around for 40 years for malaria, for lupus, for other things.<\/p>\n<p>I take it.  Frontline workers take it.  A lot of doctors take it.<\/p>\n<p>Q    (Inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Excuse me.  A lot of doctors take it.  I take it.  Now, I hope to not be able to take it soon because, you know, I hope they come up with some answer, but I think people should be allowed to.<\/p>\n<p>I got a letter from a doctor the other day from Westchester, New York \u2014 around the area.  He didn\u2019t want anything.  He just said, \u201cSir, I have hundreds of patients and I give them hydroxychloroquine; I give them the Z-Pak, which is azithromycin; and I give them zinc.  And out of the hundreds of patients \u2014 many hundreds, over 300 patients \u2014 I haven\u2019t lost one.\u201d  He said, \u201cPlease keep pressing that, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And if you look at that phony report that was put in, that report on the hydroxyl \u2014 was given to people that were in extraordinarily bad condition \u2014 extraordinarily bad, people that were dying.  No, I \u2014 I think, for whatever it\u2019s worth, I take it.  I was \u2014 I \u2014 I would\u2019ve told you that three, four days ago, but we never had a chance because you never asked me the question.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Did the White House doctor recommend that you take that?  Is that why you\u2019re taking it?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.  A White House doctor \u2014 didn\u2019t recommend \u2014 no, I asked him, \u201cWhat do you think?\u201d  He said, \u201cWell, if you\u2019d like it.\u201d  I said, \u201cYeah, I\u2019d like it.  I\u2019d like to take it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A lot of people are taking it.  A lot of frontline workers are taking hydroxychloroquine.  A lot of front- \u2014 I don\u2019t take it because \u2014 hey, people said, \u201cOh, maybe he owns the company.\u201d  No, I don\u2019t own the company.  You know what?  I want the people of this nation to feel good.  I don\u2019t want them being sick.  And there\u2019s a very good chance that this has an impact, especially early on.<\/p>\n<p>But you look at frontline workers.  You look at doctors and nurses.  A lot of them are taking it as a preventative, and they\u2019re taking \u2014 totally unrelated, but they take the Z-Pak or the azithromycin for possible infection.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I haven\u2019t taken that, other than an original dose because the ori- \u2014 all you need.  You don\u2019t have to take it simultaneously, but the zinc you do take.  So I\u2019m taking the two: the zinc and the hydroxy.  And all I can tell you is, so far, I seem to be okay.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Can you explain, sir, though, why you started taking it?  Have you been exposed?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, because \u2014 no.  No, not at all.  I just said that \u2014 I\u2019ve had so many letters from people, like the one I told you about.  I got it last week.  I\u2019ll give you \u2014 would you like a copy of it?  I\u2019d love to give you \u2014 if you ask Molly, she\u2019ll give you a copy of it.<\/p>\n<p>But this is a doctor \u2014 he doesn\u2019t want anything.  I don\u2019t know him, never heard of him, but he treats people that are \u2014 that we\u2019re talking about.  And he said, out of hundreds of people that he\u2019s treated, he hasn\u2019t lost one.  And he just wanted me to know about it.  That\u2019s all.  It wasn\u2019t \u2014 he wasn\u2019t saying, \u201cGee, could I have dinner with you, Mr. President?  I\u2019d like to come to the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Q    (Inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  But I\u2019ve received many such letters.  I\u2019ve received a lot of positive letters and it seems to have an impact.  And maybe it does; maybe it doesn\u2019t.  But if it doesn\u2019t, you\u2019re not going to get sick or die.  This is a \u2014 a pill that\u2019s been used for a long time \u2014 for 30, 40 years on the malaria and on lupus too, and even on arthritis, I guess, from what I understand.<\/p>\n<p>So it\u2019s been heavily tested, in terms of \u2014 I was just waiting to see your eyes light up when I said this, but \u2014 you know, when I announced this.  But, yeah, I have taken it for about a week and a half now, and I\u2019m still here.  I\u2019m still here.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Can you explain, sir, though, you \u2014 what is the evidence that it has a preventative effect?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Here we go.  Are you ready?  Here\u2019s my evidence.  I get a lot of positive calls about it.  The only negative I\u2019ve heard was the study where they gave it \u2014 was it the VA?  With, you know, people that aren\u2019t big Trump fans gave it \u2014 and we\u2019ve done the greatest job maybe of anything in the VA, because I got VA Choice and VA Accountability both approved.  Accountability, Tilman, is where you can fire bad people that work in the VA that you couldn\u2019t fire them.<\/p>\n<p>We had thousands of people that were sadists, that were stealing, that were robbers, that were horrible people.  They\u2019d beat up our veterans.  They couldn\u2019t do it in primetime, but they did it when they were sick.<\/p>\n<p>And we got Accountability.  Nobody thought you could get it because of the unions and civil service.  I got it passed so that now you fire bad people in the VA.  We got rid of tremendously bad people that should have never been there.  But I also got \u2014 probably, even more importantly, if you can say that; maybe not \u2014 VA Choice.<\/p>\n<p>So if you have to wait on line for a doctor, you go outside, you have a private doctor, we pay the bill.  We work out deals with doctors.  We have pricing.  So you go out, you pay the bill.  And it was a great thing that we did, so we\u2019ve done a great job with the VA.<\/p>\n<p>But they had a report come out and the results of the report \u2014 it was a very unscientific report, by the way.  But I get a lot of tremendously positive news on the hydroxy.  And I say, \u201cHey.\u201d  You know the expression I\u2019ve used, Jon?  \u201cWhat do you have to lose?\u201d  Okay?  \u201cWhat do you have to lose?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Q    Is that a reason to take medicine?<\/p>\n<p>Q    So are you taking this every day?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I have been taking for about a week \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Q    For a week and a half?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  \u2014 for about a week and a half.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Every day?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  At some point \u2014 every day.  I take a pill every day.  At some point, I\u2019ll stop.  What I\u2019d like to do is I\u2019d like to have the cure and\/or the vaccine, and that\u2019ll happen, I think, very soon.<\/p>\n<p>Q    So you\u2019ve had no symptoms, sir?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Zero symptoms.  No, I haven\u2019t had any symp- \u2014 no, I tested \u2014 we \u2014 I test \u2014 every couple of days, they want to test me, you know, for obvious reasons.  I mean, I am the President, alright?  So they want to test me.  I don\u2019t want to be tested, but they want to test me.  So every couple of days I get tested, and I\u2019ve been \u2014 I\u2019ve shown always negative.  Right?  Negative.  Is that the term you use for this?  Right?  Negative.  Totally negative.  No symptoms.  No nothing.<\/p>\n<p>But, no, I take it because I think \u2014 I hear very good things.  Again, you have to go to frontline workers.  Many frontline workers take it and they seem to be doing very well.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Sir, have any other members of your administration, Vice President Pence, or your family members taken this?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No, but I wouldn\u2019t be surprised.  I \u2014 I don\u2019t want to ask them because that\u2019s a personal decision as to whether or not you want to say.  I just want to be open with the American public because, you know, I happen to think it\u2019s good.<\/p>\n<p>I do want the letter given because this letter made \u2014 not in terms of my taking it, but I thought it was a very well-crafted letter by a man who\u2019s a respected doctor up in Westchester, maybe a little beyond Westchester \u2014 a little up higher and \u2014 in New York.  And he just \u2014 he didn\u2019t want anything.  He just wanted me to know the results of what he\u2019s doing as a doctor.  And he was so happy with the fact that I \u2014 I fight for this stuff.<\/p>\n<p>And then we have this crazy whistleblower, this fake whistleblower get out and try and, you know, knock it, who is \u2014 who signed the application.  He \u2014 he did all the \u2014 he did the signing.  He was a believer at one point, I assume.  Otherwise, he shouldn\u2019t have signed it.  No matter who told him to, he shouldn\u2019t have signed it.<\/p>\n<p>Okay.  One more question.  That\u2019s it?  Thank you all very much.<\/p>\n<p>END<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Well, thank you very much. We\u2019re here with the leaders of the restaurant industry. It\u2019s an industry that\u2019s been tremendously impacted by what\u2019s happening with COVID, and it\u2019s an industry that we\u2019re working very hard with and on. We\u2019re looking at doing deductibility so that a corporation can use a restaurant or entertainment clubs, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":100908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Fullscreen-capture-5192020-90951-AM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=100907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/100908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=100907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=100907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=100907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}