Las Vegas Restaurant Owner Who Welcomed Trump In 2024 Gives Ultra-Bleak Update: 'Everything Is Worse'

On August 23, 2024, then former MAGA Republican President Donald Trump was doing his "No Taxes on Tips" tour while campaigning for the presidency in Las Vegas, Nevada. He stopped at Il Toro E La Capra restaurant for a photo op with MAGA founder and owner Javier Barajas.

Barajas emigrated from Mexico to the United States around 1979 at the age of 16. Trump gushed about how Barajas had worked his way up from dishwasher to the very rich owner of five restaurants.

When brought to the podium, the enthusiastic Trump supporter waxed nostalgic, saying:

"I came here when Ronald Reagan was President, and you know what? I really miss those times."

Addressing Trump, Barajas said:

"I need you to please make America great."

In 2024, Trump failed to mention that MAGA meant Barajas was exactly the kind of person his Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would target if he was reelected. In an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal at the time, Barajas disclosed he came to the United States undocumented, married a citizen and became naturalized, and eventually brought his parents and siblings to the U.S. as well.

Barajas faced backlash and boycotts, primarily for the Latino community, over his enthusiastic support for Trump and his Christian nationalist, white supremacist MAGA movement.

Now over two years after Trump's visit, Barajas is no longer singing the POTUS' praises.

CNN checked back in with the Mexican immigrant and entrepreneur. Barajas told OutFront correspondent Kyung Lah that the affordability crisis that Trump and the GOP called a hoax may force him to close his doors, citing rising costs for food, fuel, and energy caused by Trump's tariffs and his Iran War.

Barajas said:

"We go backwards, everything is worse. We hoping every day that the war ends."

You can see the full report here:

Barajas' employees spoke of having to sell their car, take a second, job, and work 100 hours a week to barely survive in the Trump economy.

Chef Fernando Perez shared:

"Every single one of us, we feel like, one way or another, we feel the pain."

People were less than sympathetic to Barajas' plight.

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The "find out" phase is rarely any fun. For MAGA minions hitting that stage, not voting against their own best interests on Tuesday, November 3, is the first step toward recovery.