Donald Trump during ABC News Town Hall (screen capture)UPDATE: After waiting days to sign the stimulus package passed in Congress by overwhelming margins and negotiated with Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary as his stand-in, Trump finally signed off on the package.
His delay may have cost Americans on unemployment $300 each in enhanced federal benefits, thank you very much.
Politico rightfully ripped Trump a new one:
THAT’S IT? President DONALD TRUMP made all this noise about the Covid relief and government funding bill only to sign it and get nothing in return?
TRUMP got taken to the cleaners.
WHAT A BIZARRE, embarrassing episode for the president. He opposed a bill his administration negotiated. He had no discernible strategy and no hand to play — and it showed. He folded, and got nothing besides a few days of attention and chaos. People waiting for aid got a few days of frightening uncertainty.
ZIP. ZERO. ZILCH. If he was going to give up this easy, he should’ve just kept quiet and signed the bill. It would’ve been less embarrassing.
Trump says he signed covid relief package in a statement that includes the kind of lies we would hear in his photo ops. One of the glaring lies is that “the House and Senate have agreed to focus strongly on the very substantial voter fraud…” from the election. (Not true) pic.twitter.com/ppzauuvFmK
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) December 28, 2020
so, millions of people lost a week's worth of benefits because a stupid fucking attention-starved toddler decided to throw a three-day hissy fit, and now he wants a cookie? fuck that
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) December 28, 2020
Trump refusing to sign the bill immediately screwed millions of workers out of $300.
From a bartender in NOLA:
“His little delay routine locked me out of the LA unemployment system because I lapsed in the system yesterday and so will have to reapply with a brand new claim”
— Arthur Delaney (@ArthurDelaneyHP) December 28, 2020
The Washington Post reports Donald Trump has signaled to aides he will sign the stimulus and spending bills passed by Congress potentially avoiding a crisis.
President Trump has indicated that he will sign the stimulus bill into law before Monday night’s deadline and avert a government shutdown, two people familiar with his plans said Sunday evening, a move that would release $900 billion in stimulus funds as soon as possible.
Trump’s new decision to sign the bill came less than a week after he demanded changes to it and had suggested he would refuse to sign it into law. On Tuesday, he referred to the bill as a “disgrace” but he signaled on Sunday he would sign it after all.
The government was set to shut down on Tuesday if Trump did not sign the bill into law. The spending package also included a new round of stimulus checks, unemployment aid, and small business assistance, among other things.
Folks close to Trump say it’s still not a done deal as the Donald has apparently changed his mind on signing the bill several times.
The bipartisan bill that was negotiated with Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, was overwhelmingly passed in both chambers of Congress.
Trump threw an unexpected wrench into the deal when he suddenly demanded $2,000 checks (instead of $600) to be sent to all eligible Americans.