Progressive Politics

A few years ago, Jeff was working for a California bank that asked him to look into getting the business listed on a website called PublicSquare.

The bank’s leaders were big supporters of Donald Trump, and PublicSquare was an ideal place to advertise it: Its website, which bills itself as “the anti-woke online marketplace,” is a hub of tens of thousands of businesses nationwide that want people to know they align with MAGA views and oppose so-called “progressive priorities” like women’s reproductive rights and diversity initiatives. In order to list your business on the website, you first have to confirm that you will “respect the core values of PublicSquare” and agree not to “support causes that are in direct conflict with our core values.”

“For far too long, American consumers and business owners who cherish family values and God-given liberty have been overlooked by mainstream businesses,” the company’s website states. “It’s time to embrace this community of customers and merchants by providing platforms, products, and services that enrich the way of life they hold dear.”

The company also acknowledges its purpose of letting people use their dollars as political and cultural leverage. “PublicSquare is on a mission to restore the culture through the power of commerce,” its website says under a section called “Purpose with every purchase.” “This isn’t about boycotts, it’s about helping you switch to something better.”

As a consumer, PublicSquare’s website is easy to use. You just enter your ZIP code and it pulls up businesses near you that want to be publicly associated with Trump and his values. The company, which launched in 2022, has direct connections to Trump, too: Its board of directors includes Donald Trump Jr., who also is an investor.

Kelly Loeffler, President Trump’s administrator of the Small Business Administration, also was on the board until she was confirmed to her current post in February.

Jeff, who requested using a pseudonym for this story out of concerns of being targeted by Trump supporters in his community, doesn’t know if that bank joined PublicSquare. He soon left that job and went on to launch a communications firm.

Fast-forward to February 2025, when Trump is back in the White House and destroying virtually everything he touches. He’s tanking the global economy. He’s hollowing out the federal government. It is not hyperbole to say he’s pushing American democracy to its breaking point.

Jeff, a regular user of the social media platform Reddit, started noticing people in his San Diego community posting messages desperate for ways to fight back against Trump’s recklessness. Some called for boycotting MAGA-friendly businesses but didn’t know how to identify companies that support Trump’s views. So Jeff, who had extensively researched PublicSquare at his previous bank job, tossed in a note about it.

“MAGA has made it easy for all of us to avoid their businesses,” he wrote under his Reddit name, Hour-Abbreviations18. “A couple years ago, they introduced a website – publicsq.com — to promote MAGA businesses. We can use that same tool to make informed purchasing decisions.”

“If a business is listed on the site, it’s not a fluke,” he wrote. “It’s on purpose.”

He got several responses to his post, so out of curiosity, Jeff searched Reddit for instances of people outside of his local community who were looking for ways to avoid pro-Trump businesses. He cut and pasted his spiel about PublicSquare into those threads, too.

His message took off, spreading to Reddit threads all over the country by people eager to do something — anything — to reject Trump. Ironically, people began finding solace in the very thing PublicSquare offers its supporters: a chance to align your spending with your values. Except in this case, people are using PublicSquare to decide where not to spend.

“Is there a list for 2025 so we can pass around to the worthy peace loving humans?” one Reddit user in Oregon asked in a February thread, “MAGA Businesses in Oregon to BOYCOTT.” Jeff tossed in his description of PublicSquare, and his post got “upvoted” 263 times, meaning it got pushed to the top of the thread for more people to see.

Jeff pasted his post into another Reddit thread based in Long Beach, California, titled, “MAGA Businesses to Avoid.” It was upvoted 65 times.

“My god I just found out my dog’s vet is on there,” one user wrote in response.

“THANK YOU FOR THIS LIST,” wrote another user.

Jeff’s posts about PublicSquare, or offshoots of them, have popped up on Reddit in cities and towns in Illinois, Colorado, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Maine, North Carolina and in general Reddit forums. The idea of using PublicSquare for boycotts has gained attention in local news stories. Last month, a TikTok user with 19,000 followers filmed himself describing PublicSquare and directing people to its website to find MAGA-friendly businesses to cut off. His video has gotten more than 348,000 “likes.”

“PublicSquare is basically the Green Book, but for conservatives,” this TikTok user, who goes by dapper.delinquent, says in his video. “The Green Book was a book passed around Black communities that was a list of stores and businesses that were safe for Black People to use. PublicSquare is the same thing for conservatives.”

Another TikTok user posted a similar message last month, calling PublicSquare the “anti-woke business finder” and saying he’s glad it exists so he knows where not to shop. “It just means that they do not care about our rights and they stand with Trump,” this user says in his video. His post got 32,000 “likes” and was shared 11,000 times.

Trump critics also have been talking about PublicSquare on other platforms like Threads and on Facebook, where a group called The 50501 Movement organizes people around Trump protests, rallies and boycotts. The group, which has 164,000 members, flagged PublicSquare for its followers last month.

“Helpful for deciding which small businesses to avoid!” reads a post within the group.

Some people have sought out PublicSquare’s own Facebook page to let them know their site has been a huge help to people eager to do something to protest Trump’s policies.

“After a local article was published, our community is using PublicSquare to see which businesses to avoid,” one user wrote in a comment on a PublicSquare post earlier this month. “It’s like you’re helping the trash take itself out.”

It’s not clear what financial impact, if any, people’s boycotts are having on the businesses listed on PublicSquare, or on PublicSquare itself. The publicly traded company, which is led by founder, CEO and president Michael Seifert, has seen its stock value plummet by more than 50% since the start of the year. Even before Trump announced his tariffs earlier this month, which have hurt economies globally, PublicSquare was down by 12%.

The company appears to make its revenue through fees paid out by businesses on its website, along with “a commission per transaction.” Still, there’s no way to directly link the company’s finances to people actively using the site to find businesses to stop supporting.

A PublicSquare spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment about people using their website to find businesses not to patronize or about the company’s financial woes.

“The ability to make purchasing decisions that align with our values is one thing we can do.”

Jeff doesn’t presume he’s the only anti-Trump person who knew about this website before this year, but said he’s been blown away by how many people told him they’d never heard of it — and how happy they are to know about it. Most people he’s engaged with said they plan to use PublicSquare to make sure they don’t give money to Trump-aligned businesses, but a few said they wanted to use the site as intended, to support such companies.

“The vast majority of people said, ‘I had no idea. I can’t believe this or that business is on there. I’m never going there again,’” Jeff said. “I’d say 90% of responses are of that ilk.”

He emphasized his efforts to spread the word about PublicSquare aren’t about punishing businesses but about helping people make informed decisions.

“Right now, so many decisions are being made that affect our lives that are outside of our control, and many people feel helpless,” Jeff said. “The ability to make purchasing decisions that align with our values is one thing we can do.”

That’s definitely how Janet Koenig feels. The 62-year-old California resident recently came across one of Jeff’s posts on Reddit, so she went to PublicSquare’s website and entered her ZIP code. To her dismay, one of her favorite coffee shops came up. She was horrified.

“I was like, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Koenig said. “I just assumed they were one of the good guys. I’ll be sure to tell all my friends not to go.” We Don't Work For Billionaires. We Work For You.

Now she regularly checks PublicSquare before buying products. She’s also been sharing a link to its website with as many people as she can, most of whom, like her, had no idea this company existed and at least some of whom plan to use it to make sure they don’t inadvertently give money to Trump-aligned businesses. She said she feels like her efforts may not be having much of an impact, but she feels a new sense of empowerment.

“I just feel like I have to do something. Because businesses now control our votes, you know?” Koenig said. “I feel like, you know what, if they control our votes, I’ll do whatever I can do to only support the ones that vote the way I want. It’s about disgust, honestly. I’m disgusted by the way our votes can be bought by business.”

“I sleep well at night knowing I’m not accidentally donating to the bad guys,” she said.