Rick Harrison, the Las Vegas pawn shop owner and star of the hit show Pawn Stars, stood up at the White House Small Business Summit on Monday and said what a lot of Main Street business owners have been thinking.

“Literally he’s going to go down as maybe the best president ever,” Harrison said of President Donald Trump. “I love this guy!”

The moment drew cheers from a room packed with more than 130 business owners who had traveled from across the country to mark National Small Business Week at the White House.

Harrison, who owns the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas, was one of several featured business owners at the summit. He was joined by the National Business Person of the Year Mark Lamoncha, the founders of Allegiance Flag Supply, barbecue and pretzel business owners, and domestic manufacturers from sectors ranging from energy to defense.

President Trump delivered remarks to the group, turning the event into a working celebration of the policies his administration says are fueling a Main Street revival.

The White House released a detailed breakdown of the administration’s small-business agenda timed to the summit:

The administration framed the event as part of a broader Main Street revival, highlighting America’s 36 million small businesses as the engines of job creation, innovation, and community prosperity. The release tied the summit to both National Small Business Week and the country’s 250th anniversary year.

On the policy side, the White House pointed to tax relief for Main Street businesses, permanent small-business deductions, full expensing for equipment and expansion, and opportunity-zone investment. It touted a Deregulation Strike Force designed to cut red tape, along with record SBA-backed capital through 7(a) and 504 loan programs. The release also cited new support for small manufacturers, domestic supplier tools, relief from Beneficial Ownership Information paperwork burdens, citizenship verification for loan applicants, reforms to sanctuary-city offices and DEI contracting practices, and the rollback of an Obama-era joint-employer rule that franchise owners had warned could threaten jobs.

That is a long list, and it reads like a checklist built by people who actually run businesses rather than people who regulate them. The citizenship verification measure and the BOI paperwork relief alone address two headaches that small-business owners have been complaining about for years.

Scripps News previewed the summit with a look at the guest list and the policy frame President Trump planned to highlight:

The event brought more than 130 small-business owners to the White House from all 50 states, spanning manufacturing, food production, defense, energy, retail, and family-run companies. The diversity of sectors gave the summit a practical Main Street feel rather than the usual Washington policy event atmosphere.

The policy centerpiece was the Working Families Tax Cuts law, which preserved the 199A small-business deduction, established 100 percent expensing for factories and improvements, and protected family-owned farms from death-tax pressure. The summit also spotlighted savings for workers tied to no tax on tips and overtime, with the administration making the case that tax certainty lets owners hire, expand, and plan beyond the next filing season.

Featured attendees included National Business Person of the Year Mark Lamoncha, Rick Harrison of Gold & Silver Pawn Shop and Pawn Stars fame, the Allegiance Flag Supply founders, and owners of barbecue, pretzel, and domestic manufacturing businesses.

The 199A deduction alone has been a lifeline for pass-through businesses, which make up the vast majority of small firms in America. Making it permanent removes the uncertainty that kept owners from planning long-term investments. Full expensing for factories and improvements goes a step further, telling manufacturers that the government actually wants them to build here.

And the family farm protection is personal for millions of Americans. Farms that have been in families for generations should not be broken up because Washington wants a cut when the founder dies.

What made the summit work was the guest list. These were not lobbyists or trade association executives. They were people who sign the front of the check, deal with regulators, and worry about payroll on Friday. When Rick Harrison stands up and says he loves the president, he is speaking as a guy who has run a small business on camera and off for decades. The praise lands differently when it comes from someone who knows what a slow month feels like.

President Trump has always been at his best when he is talking directly to the people who build things, sell things, and hire their neighbors. Monday’s summit was a reminder that the Main Street economy has a champion in the White House, and Main Street noticed.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
 

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