>> Continued From the Previous Page <<
While middle-class families watched their savings evaporate, Silicon Valley saw opportunity. Biden’s inflation crisis paved the way for Big Tech delivery apps to seize control of local restaurant sales, bleeding pizzerias dry.
Papa Johns reported three consecutive quarters of declining sales through 2024, with a brutal 6% plunge in the final quarter.² Pizza Hut’s revenue collapsed for two straight years, even with 6,700 stores.³ Fast-casual pizza chains like MOD Pizza and Fired Pie went bankrupt entirely.
This is what happens when Democrats run the economy—Main Street suffers while Big Tech gets richer.
As Biden’s policies crippled local businesses, Silicon Valley’s billionaires capitalized on the chaos. Delivery apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats hijacked the very delivery system pizza shops pioneered decades ago.
Now, instead of calling their local pizza shop, most Americans order through apps controlled by California tech monopolists. DoorDash alone commanded 67% of the food delivery market by March 2024, while Uber Eats grabbed another 23%.⁵ That means two companies—both based in California—controlled how 90% of Americans ordered dinner.
While these tech giants enjoyed explosive profits, traditional pizza chains closed their doors. Under Biden, Domino’s shuttered 259 stores globally in 2024. Papa Johns shut down 186 more.⁶⁷
The same wave of restaurant closures that wiped out Red Lobster and TGI Fridays hit the pizza industry hard. Biden’s economy made it nearly impossible for small businesses to survive, while tech oligarchs cashed in.
There’s a dirty secret behind the delivery boom—and it’s devastating for small pizza owners.
“Every time a customer orders through DoorDash or Uber Eats, that order and that customer now belong to the platform,” warned Li-ran Navon, CEO of Sauce.⁸ “They use that data to promote other restaurants that pay higher commissions, so even a loyal customer can get pushed toward a competitor next time.”
In other words, local pizzerias are paying rent to Silicon Valley just to reach their own customers. DoorDash and Uber Eats collect massive commissions, keep the customer data, and redirect loyal patrons to other restaurants that pay them more.
Papa Johns thought they were being smart by partnering with delivery apps early on. But when those apps grew to represent 16% of their total sales, the company realized they’d built a system that drained their profits.⁹
Industry analysts later confirmed that “the chain believes the weakness of sales through its own channels is largely responsible for the quarter’s same-store sales decline.”¹⁰
The COVID lockdowns imposed by Democrat governors gave pizza chains a temporary illusion of success.
Between 2020 and 2021, Papa Johns’ same-store sales surged 29%.¹¹ Domino’s stock soared as Americans trapped at home ordered pizza in record numbers.
But when lockdowns ended, that artificial demand vanished—and Biden’s inflation made eating out unaffordable again. By 2024, “61% of pizza chains experienced declining sales,” reported *Nation’s Restaurant News.*¹²
The false boom Democrats created with lockdowns became a crash that wiped out thousands of local eateries once restrictions lifted.
Amid the chaos, one company refused to bow to Big Tech—and it’s no coincidence their strategy mirrors President Trump’s America First philosophy.
Domino’s invested heavily in its own digital infrastructure, launching its “Pizza Tracker” years before the tech giants came knocking. Instead of relying on DoorDash or Uber Eats, Domino’s built its own system to keep customer data, profits, and control in-house.
By 2025, an astounding 70% of Domino’s orders came through their own platforms—double the rate of their competitors.¹⁴ That’s what happens when a business refuses to kneel to monopolists and chooses independence.
Even Warren Buffett noticed. His Berkshire Hathaway invested $549 million in Domino’s in 2024.¹⁵
That’s proof the “Trump model”—self-reliance, innovation, and economic nationalism—still works.
While Biden’s inflation and regulations devastated America’s pizza chains, President Trump is fighting to rebuild them. His pro-growth, pro-business policies are cutting red tape, challenging Big Tech monopolies, and putting American entrepreneurs back in control.
Economic historian Louis Hyman noted, “They will need to respond with either better quality or cheaper food, neither of which is an easy path forward.”¹⁶
For many local pizza shops, recovery won’t be quick—but under Trump’s leadership, it’s finally possible.
Because when America puts Main Street first—and stops bowing to Silicon Valley and Washington elites—families, small businesses, and the American Dream all have a fighting chance again.
