US midterms: Trump 'has done everything to make life difficult for business owners'

Small businesses like this one here are responsible for some 50% of jobs in the U.S., according to the Department of Labor. But with increased inflation from war in the Middle East and tariffs, Jessica Cordova is facing the facts. Inevitably, We're going to have to adjust our prices inevitably. I'm starting to bleed. We can't absorb 100% of the costs. We're going to have to absorb 100%. Jose, her business partner, had plans to expand operations, but those have been put on hold. In such uncertain times, we have to be extra careful, because one small mistake can lead to bankruptcy. It can lead us to a break. Our margins are so small, and our prices are already fairly high. Based in Washington, D.C., Rebecca Melski and Eva St. Clair own a small dressmaking online shop and became a part of the legal battle against tariffs. I think the economic strategy is that they want to give tax cuts to billionaires and they are, they don't want to raise taxes on anybody else either, so they're raising taxes through tariffs. Princess Awesome took their complaint all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled in their favor earlier this year. What has been most depressing to me over the last 18 months has been watching many companies, large and small, who refuse to speak out because they're afraid that they're going to get taken out by the Trump administration. An advocate for immigrants' rights and a critic of the Trump administration, Abel Núñez is not afraid to say publicly that the economic situation will not play out in Republicans' favor. This president is doing everything. The president has done everything to make life difficult for business owners. But I think either those people will end up not voting, or they're going to switch sides. Sides. Oh, come here. And that won't be good for the Republicans' numbers. Numbers. A champion of free trade for decades, the United States has said that its extensive use of tariffs is an attempt to reduce a trade deficit. But since the beginning of 2026, it has led to some 27,000 business bankruptcies.