Trump Seeks Advice Of Waffle House, Hilton And Other Execs About US Reopening

Representatives from Toyota, Hilton, Wynn and Waffle House, among others, were said to have met with President Donald Trump Wednesday (April 29) to discuss the methods to reopen the U.S. for business, according to a CNBC report.

Those companies seem to have been selected because they’ve been vocal about plans to start operations in May amid the coronavirus pandemic. Toyota and Hilton both confirmed that they were in attendance, although Waffle House did not comment, according to CNBC.

Restaurants and hotels, along with auto manufacturers, were hit hard by the virus due to the mass shutdowns and have been ready to begin reopening as soon as possible.

Toyota said it will be ramping up operations in May, although it will comply with the federally recommended health guidelines and would prioritize the health and safety of people working.

Hilton said the cleanliness standards at its locations would be second to none.

Waffle House has already begun reopening locations across Georgia at the behest of Gov. Brian Kemp, who began allowing many businesses to reopen on April 24.

Waffle House CEO Walt Ehmer told CNBC on Tuesday (April 28) that he believes the chain’s role right now is to “help the country and help ourselves figure out how to deal with the virus being with us for some time and how to get our businesses prepared to provide jobs and opportunities for our people.”

Wynn has been pushing hard to reopen in Nevada after seeing a 6.3 percent unemployment rate, the highest in the country, due to the state’s entertainment sector being depleted because of the virus. Wynn CEO Matt Maddox recently said the reopenings would be extremely controlled, with temperature checks, masks given out, and a reduction of the amount of people allowed in its buildings.

Wynn recently told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that it was already accepting reservations for Memorial Day weekend. The company said it would use the time until then to implement the aforementioned protective social distancing measures.