Fact-check · Sep 10, 2026 · Donald Trump
“Shutting down 3,000,000 businesses”
FALSE
What the record shows
Federal Reserve analysis of BLS data: 700,000+ establishments closed in Q2 2020, but ~400,000 were temporary. Permanent closures estimated at 140,000–400,000 through 2020–2021, per various sources. No authoritative source documents 3 million permanent business closures.
Sources
- Business exit during the COVID-19 pandemic: Non-traditional measures in historical context - PMC
- The Fed - Business entry and exit in the COVID-19 pandemic: A preliminary look at official data
- Share of small business closings due to COVID-19 U.S. 2022| Statista
- Millions of Small Businesses Closed in 2020: The Long Recovery Ahead - Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
- Coronavirus: impact on small business in the U.S. - statistics & facts | Statista
- When Businesses Closed for Covid and When They Reopened - ScienceInsights
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