Donald Trump & Jared Kushner’s Companies Benefitted From PPP Loans, Report Says
The Small Business Administration released data on Tuesday that revealed how companies owned by Donald Trump and Jared Kushner profited from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) program.
As reported by NBC News, over 25 PPP loans worth more than $3.65 million were funneled to real estate properties owned by Trump and Kushner. However, the publication noted that the majority of the money was not used to sustain employment.
“Fifteen of the properties self-reported that they only kept one job, zero jobs or did not report a number at all.”
According to NBC News, the money provided to Trump and Kushner’s properties included close to $2.2 million to the Triomphe Restaurant Corp. located at the Trump International Hotel & Tower in New York City. The company allegedly did not use the funds to keep jobs and closed after receiving the money.
Elsewhere, two tenants at 725 5th Avenue, Trump Tower, received over $100,000, and four tenants at the Kushner-owned 666 5th Avenue collected over $204,000. Across both operations, only nine jobs were kept. In addition, Kushner’s Bungalow Hotel in Long Branch received $505,552.50 and kept 155 jobs.
Per Fast Company, a spokesperson for Kushner Companies pushed back on claims that some of its businesses “somehow improperly benefited” from the PPP loans. According to the spokesperson, such claims are “politically motivated nonsense.”
According to NBC News, the data showed various signs of troubled management, including over 100 loans that were provided to companies that did not provide their business name. In addition, some operations appeared to have collected more than $10 million per entity — an amount that was reserved for establishments in the hospitality, food, and hotel industries.
“The PPP programs’ original stated intent by officials was to help with payroll for small businesses struggling under the effects of coronavirus lockdown measures,” the publication reported.
“The loans aimed to provide a bridge through the summer for what was hoped to be an improved economic and health climate in the fall.”
Progressive commentator David Pakman commented on the benefits Trump and Kushner received from the PPP loans and contrasted it to the Republican Party’s purported opposition to socialism.
“Trump and Jared Kushner grifted the hell out of the coronavirus stimulus money, but Joe Biden is the socialist.”
As The Inquisitr reported, the first round of PPP loans ran out quickly, and one factor was the significant amount of funding that went to large businesses as opposed to the small operations that the program was intended to keep afloat. Although large companies technically still qualified under the second round, the Trump administration discouraged them from applying.
