While celebrating tax breaks for small businesses as part of his “Big Beautiful Bill Act,” President Donald Trump admitted not knowing what a “corner store” is.
Speaking at a roundtable in Las Vegas during Tax Week, Trump promoted his no tax on tips policy, which pushes larger tax refunds for tipped workers and small businesses. But while reading some of the talking points given to him, he began questioning some things.
“The Great Big Beautiful Bill also slashed taxes on millions of American small businesses, including restaurants, dry cleaners, corner stores….what is a corner store?” the president asked the crowd. “I’ve never heard that term. I know what a corner store is, but I’ve never heard it described… A corner store. Who the hell wrote that, please?”
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Social media users in the comment section were taken aback by Trump not being familiar with the term, which describes a small grocery store, as he was born and raised in Queens, New York, where a corner store is seen at almost the end or beginning of every street.
“You cannot be from New York and not know that. That was deliberate,” @transvilla420 wrote.
@ch0ngkenny wondered how Trump “has all these black friends and doesn’t know what a corner store is?” The sentiment was echoed by newscaster Don Lemon in an Instagram post.
“Wait til he hears the word bodega,” @suegreene22 wrote.
This isn’t the first time Trump has spoken out about how other Americans refer to groceries. In April 2025, during a “Liberation Day” speech, he claimed the term “groceries” was old-fashioned, according to People, and provided his own definition.
“It’s such an old-fashioned term but a beautiful term: groceries,” he said at the time. “It sort of says a bag with different things in it.”
Not knowing what a corner store is, is not a good look for Trump as Americans are struggling to keep cabinets full due to the the rising costs. According to NBC News, though costs of some goods, like eggs, have gone down by 30% since spring 2025, the average price of items like orange juice and beef have increased by 22% and 15%, respectively, during the same timeframe.
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