Trump cuts off stimulus relief talks until after election, upending prospects for aid
Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered a stop to the talks with Democrats on a new monetary stimulus package that would provide additional coronavirus relief until after the presidential election on November 3.
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“I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major stimulus bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and small business,” Trump said in a series of tweets Tuesday afternoon.
Trump’s instructions came a day after he was discharged from a military hospital where he was treated for COVID-19. For the past a few weeks, senior officials from his administration are negotiating with the House Democrats on a major stimulus package before the 3 November elections.
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“Nancy Pelosi is asking for US $2.4 trillion to bailout poorly run, high crime democrat states, money that is in no way related to COVID-19. We made a very generous offer of US $1.6 trillion and, as usual, she is not negotiating in good faith,” he alleged.
“I am rejecting their request and looking to the future of our country,” he said.
Trump said he has asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell not to delay but to focus full time on approving his outstanding nominee to the United States Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett.
“Our Economy is doing very well. The Stock Market is at record levels, JOBS and unemployment also coming back in record numbers. We are leading the World in Economic Recovery, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” Trump said.
In another tweet, he alleged that “crazy” Nancy Pelosi and “the radical Left” Democrats were just playing “games” with the desperately needed workers’ stimulus payments. “They were never in it to help the workers and they never will be!” he alleged.
His Democratic Party presidential challenger Joe Biden alleged that by stopping the negotiations, Trump ended the efforts to pass a bipartisan relief that the country desperately needed. “He ended talks that would get help for our businesses and schools, for families struggling and for those unemployed — that would have preserved hundreds of thousands of jobs,” he said.
“Make no mistake: if you are out of work, if your business is closed, if your child’s school is shut down, if you are seeing layoffs in your community, Donald Trump decided today that none of that — none of it — matters to him,” Biden alleged.
“There will be no help from Washington for the foreseeable future. Instead, he wants the Senate to use it’s time to confirm his Supreme Court Justice nominee before the election in a mad dash to make sure that the court takes away your health care coverage as quickly as possible,” Biden said.
(With inputs from agencies)