Donald Trump has signed a crown crisis package – VG

It happened shortly after the president himself announced that there was good news about the crisis package.

Donald Trump was very surprised when, just before Christmas, he refused to sign the agreement, which was negotiated by Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and which was to provide crisis assistance to millions of affected Americans. for the crown.

– To be honest, it’s a shame, said, among other things, about the deal worth 900 billion dollars.

Background: Donald Trump rejects congressional crisis package

Democrats and Republicans have spent months negotiating the crisis package, and Trump’s lack of approval has been met with massive criticism from both Republicans and Democrats.

Over the weekend, Trump has repeatedly criticized the crisis package, but overnight, Norwegian time, he turned around and still signed the deal. He did so from Palm Beach, Florida, where he played golf at his own golf club on Sunday.

The president has made it clear that he wants more money in direct payments to affected Americans. In a statement Monday night, he asked Congress to make several changes to the deal after it was approved.

Today’s deal involves, among other things, a direct payment of $ 600 to millions of Americans.

“I have told Congress that I want less money wasted and more money for the American people, in the form of checks for $ 2,000 per adult and $ 600 per child,” Trump said Monday night.

According to the Washington Post, this does not necessarily mean that elected officials care about Trump’s demands. He resigned as president on January 20, after losing to Democrat Joe Biden in the November presidential election.

Relief among Republicans

If the president had not signed the crisis package before midnight Tuesday, the United States government would have shut down and hundreds of thousands of government employees would have been sent home without pay.

It would happen because the crisis package is linked to a budget package that grants US authorities funds until September next year, NTB writes. The new crisis package also includes billions of dollars of support for small and medium-sized businesses and money for vaccine distribution.

Trump’s rejection of the crisis package came as a surprise to Trump’s party colleagues in the Republican Party, he writes. Washington Post. Trump’s own Finance Minister, Steven Mnuchin, was, among other things, central to the negotiations, as well as several White House advisers.

“I applaud the president’s decision to send billions of dollars in vital crown aid to American families as soon as possible,” wrote Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. in a sentence.

Also the party’s minority leader in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy thanks Trump for signing.

The United States has been hard hit by the corona pandemic, and more than 330,000 Americans have lost their lives to the virus:

Democrats in the House of Representatives support the president’s desire to increase payments from $ 600 to $ 2,000, AP writes. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, asks Trump to convince his colleagues in the party to increase the sum.

“The president must immediately ask the Republicans in Congress to stop creating obstacles and to support him and the Democrats in the proposal to increase direct payments to $ 2,000, something we will vote on tomorrow,” he said in a statement.

If the House of Representatives votes to increase direct payments, the matter will be considered in the Senate. Republicans are expected to put their foot down, writes AP.

“Destructive and selfish”

According to CNN, the crisis package also means that about 12 million Americans still receive unemployment benefits, after their agreements expired this weekend. They will likely still lose their payment in the last week of the year, because the package was signed too late, the channel writes.

– This much needed crisis aid could have reached workers and families several days ago. Instead, 12 Americans are wondering how to pay rent and buy food next week, thanks to Donald Trump’s ego, writes Democratic Senator Ron Wyden on Twitter.

Democratic Congresswoman Katherine Clark calls the use of time “destructive and selfish.”

Before Trump signed the crisis package on Monday night, he also received strong criticism from his own party colleagues.

– I do not understand what is being done, and why, unless it is to create chaos and show power and be disappointed because he has lost the elections. “Otherwise, I don’t get it, because this just has to be done,” Republican Adam Kinzinger, who represents Illinois in the House of Representatives, told CNN before Trump signed the crisis package.

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania also asked Trump to sign the crisis package.

– I understand that Trump will be remembered for fighting before big controls, but the danger of letting this go out of style is that he is remembered rather for the chaos, suffering and erratic behavior. I think it is better to sign and then work for more legislation later, he said according to the AP news agency.