Restaurant owners gave President Donald Trump a sobering accounting of the widespread damage the coronavirus pandemic has dealt their industry and asked him to adjust a loan program for small businesses to address their concerns.
The president put a hopeful spin on the situation, saying encouraging news on vaccines and treatment efforts could negate the bad news.
The president was in good spirits as he met Monday with the restaurant executives at the White House, noting that financial markets were up as states continued to loosen economic restrictions on businesses and following Moderna Inc.'s announcement of encouraging news in early work on vaccine development.
This was a very big day, therapeutically, cure-wise and vaccine-wise, Trump said.
Tremendous progress has been made, as I've been saying for two weeks, because I've been seeing what's going on and have been spearheading it largely."