Economy White House Politics & Business May 5, 2026

Trump’s National Small Business Week celebration had gold, silver, pretzels, a reflecting pool story that’ll make your jaw drop — and a TV legend who said out loud what millions of small business owners are thinking.

36M Small businesses represented in the room

$45B SBA lending guaranteed in 2025 — an all-time record

100% Of new jobs since inauguration in the private sector

If you want to understand why Trump’s bond with small business America runs so deep, Monday’s National Small Business Week celebration at the White House told the whole story in about 67 minutes. Tax cuts, tariff wins, a steel company back from the dead, pretzels he wanted to steal, a reflecting pool saved for $1.9 million instead of $350 million — and Pawn Stars’ Rick Harrison standing at the most famous podium in the world saying what half of Main Street has been thinking for two years.

Harrison, the gold and silver pawn shop owner and longtime fixture of American television, wasn’t even supposed to speak. Trump spotted him in the audience, pulled him up, and what followed was the kind of unrehearsed moment no speechwriter could manufacture. Harrison told the room — and the cameras — that under Biden, small business owners were made to feel like “the evil people.” Then he looked at Trump and said it plainly.

TV host · Small business owner · Trump supporter since the first rally

“The backbone of this country is small business, plain and simple. The last guy in office, all we heard was that we were the evil people, we were the bad people. And this guy — the Big Beautiful Bill — absolutely amazing. Literally, he’s going to go down as maybe the best president ever. I love this guy.”

That’s the kind of endorsement that doesn’t show up in a poll — and Trump knew it. “I’m glad we didn’t tell you,” he told Harrison afterward, “because that was much better than when you’re fully prepared.” He’s right. It landed because it was real.

The substance behind the celebration is hard to argue with if you’re running a small business right now. The One Big Beautiful Bill delivered no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security for seniors, and 100% expensing and bonus depreciation — meaning businesses can deduct the full cost of new equipment and facilities in year one instead of spreading it over nearly four decades. According to figures Trump cited Monday, 12 million small businesses saw an average tax cut of over $7,000, and the pass-through deduction alone is delivering an average of $4,600 to 8 million entrepreneurs.

$7,000+ Average tax cut for 12M small businesses via the One Big Beautiful Bill

129-to-1 Old regulations eliminated per new one passed vs. a target of 10-to-1

$4,600 Average savings for 8M entrepreneurs from pass-through deduction alone

85,000 Small businesses received SBA loans in 2025 with 53% fewer SBA staff — record efficiency

SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler added the headline number: in 2025 alone, the SBA guaranteed a record $45 billion in lending to 85,000 small businesses — achieved with 53% fewer staff at the agency. That’s the kind of doing-more-with-less efficiency that every small business owner understands instinctively.

“Under Biden, real wages for manufacturing workers fell $840. Under one year of Trump, they went up $2,500.”— President Trump, National Small Business Week remarks, White House

The star of the award ceremony itself was Mark Lamancha, owner of Hometown Products near Youngstown, Ohio — a metal casting and 3D printing company that was nearing bankruptcy in 2008 before Lamancha patented a productivity system that boosted output by over 400%. He’s now North America’s leading producer of 3D printed sand cores. Trump wanted to hire him on the spot. “How big is this business? I want to get him,” he said, only half joking.

Then there was the reflecting pool story — and honestly, this one deserves its own headline. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has leaked since the day it was built in 1922. The government’s plan to fix it: $350 million, three and a half years of construction. Trump’s plan: call in his best pool contractors, steam-blast the existing granite, apply commercial-grade pool surfacing in “American flag blue,” and get it done in one week for $1.9 million. It was finished days ago. He wanted to go see it Monday but Secret Service said no.

The reflecting pool math, in plain English:Government estimate: $350 million · 3.5 years · gray granite replacement
Trump’s solution: $1.9 million · 1 week · commercial pool surface in American flag blue
That’s 99.5% cheaper and 182 times faster. Common sense, he called it. Hard to disagree.

The deeper message of Monday wasn’t the numbers or even the celebrity cameo — it was the room itself. Fifty small business owners of the year, one from every state, standing in the most famous house in America being told by the president that they are “the lifeblood of the American economy.” After four years of being lectured about their carbon footprint and told to pay their fair share, a lot of them looked like they needed to hear it.

The golden age of America, Trump called it. Rick Harrison, a man who has spent his entire career betting on what things are actually worth, seemed to agree.