Trump halts COVID-19 relief talks until after election
Published:Tuesday | October 6, 2020 | 3:48 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump abandoned COVID-19 relief talks on Tuesday, saying they won’t resume until after the election. The move came as the chairman of the Federal Reserve said that further fiscal intervention is needed to prevent the economy from spiralling downward.
Trump tweeted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was “not negotiating in good faith” and said he’s asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to direct all his focus before the election into confirming his US Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.
“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 tweeted.
The unexpected turn could be a blow to Trump’s reelection prospects and comes as his administration and campaign are in turmoil.
Trump is quarantining in the White House with a case of COVID, and the latest batch of opinion polls shows him significantly behind former Vice President Joe Biden with the election four weeks away.
The collapse also means there won’t be a pre-election batch of $1,200 direct payments to most individuals, which appeared to be the item Trump cared most about as the potential package was taking shape.
Trump’s move came immediately after he spoke with the top GOP leaders in Congress, who had been warily watching talks between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Pelosi.
Many Senate Republicans had signalled they would not be willing to go along with any stimulus legislation that topped $1 trillion, and GOP aides had been privately dismissive of the prospects for a deal.
Last week, the White House said it was backing a $400 per week pandemic jobless benefit and dangled the possibility of a COVID-19 relief bill of $1.6 trillion.
But that offer was rejected by Pelosi.
Pelosi had spoken with Mnuchin earlier Tuesday. After Trump’s tweets spiking the negotiations, Pelosi said Trump was “unwilling to crush the virus” and “refuses to give real help to poor children, the unemployed, and America’s hard working families.”
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