Restaurant owners share woes with Trump

WASHINGTON — Restaurant owners gave President Donald Trump a sobering accounting Monday 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 restaurant owners said they appreciated that the government had acted swiftly on assistance efforts, but cautioned that even opening up to more customers would not necessarily mean a return to profits because they’ll be serving fewer customers.

They called for extending the eight-week period in which they must spend their Paycheck Protection Program loans in order to have the loans forgiven. An extension to 24 weeks would give them more time to adjust to the new customer constraints they face as states place limits on how many people can dine at restaurants. this month, sparking concerns about the steps taken by the administration to protect the president and sending Vice President Mike Pence and other officials into varying forms of self-isolation.

The White House has since mandated that those in the West Wing wear face coverings and has introduced daily testing for the virus for the president, vice president and those they come in close contact with. Trump says he continues to test negative for the coronavirus.

Trump last underwent an “interim” checkup in a November visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that was not noted on his public schedule.

His last complete physical took place in February 2019.

White House officials did not say whether any other administration officials were also taking the drug.

Trump said he took hydroxychloroquine with an “original dose” of the antibiotic azithromycin. The president has repeatedly pushed the use of the drug with or without the azithromycin, but no large, rigorous studies have found them safe or effective for preventing or treating COVID-19.