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Trump’s position could threaten to torpedo the carefully drafted bill, which his own administration helped negotiate, a move that could lead to a government shutdown and send the economy into a tailspin if carried out with a veto.
“I am asking Congress to amend this bill and raise the ridiculously low $ 600 to $ 2000 or $ 4000 per couple,” Trump said in a video posted on Twitter. “I am also asking Congress to immediately get rid of unnecessary and wasteful elements of this legislation or to send me a proper bill.”
The extraordinary message came after he largely left negotiations on the measure to lawmakers and his Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Trump did not explicitly threaten to veto the bill, but said he was dissatisfied with its final status.
“A few months ago, Congress began negotiations on a new package for the American people to receive urgently needed help. It has been an eternity,” he said in the video.
“However, the bill that they now plan to send to my desk is very different from what was planned. It really is a shame.”
Still, Trump’s message appeared to be received favorably by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who tweeted: “Republicans repeatedly refused to say how much the president wanted for direct checks.”
“At last, the president accepted $ 2,000 – Democrats are ready to take this to the floor this week by unanimous consent,” he said. “Let’s do it!”
However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted: “We are happy to pass more aid than Americans need,” but emphasized that “Trump needs to sign the bill to help people and keep open the government”.
“Maybe Trump can finally be useful and get Republicans not to block him again,” he said.
CNN has reached out to the offices of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Several sources told CNN that the president’s message will not provoke a renegotiation of the measure, which was approved with large veto-proof majorities.
At the moment, the hope among some on Capitol Hill is that Trump will not veto the bill, as he never explicitly said he would.
House Democrats will try to pass a bill Thursday to increase direct payments for unanimous consent, though any member can spoil that effort. It is not clear what will happen when such a bill is blocked or blocked.
Government funding runs out next Monday.
Trump’s statement was filmed by the White House and was not open to the press. The journalists did not have the opportunity to ask the president questions. It is unclear when the message was recorded.
The president has said in the past that he would sign the bill, and the White House publicly defended the bill early Tuesday. But many of his allies have spoken out against the approved agreement.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The legislation includes direct payments of up to $ 600 per adult, enhanced unemployment benefits of $ 300 per week, approximately $ 284 billion in Paycheck Protection Program loans, $ 25 billion in rental assistance, an extension of the eviction moratorium and $ 82 billion for schools and universities.
“We can finally report what our nation has long needed to hear: more help is on the way,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday night in announcing the deal.
The agreement was reached only after both parties gave up on some of their key demands, with direct stimulus controls proving to be a major sticking point throughout the negotiations.
While Trump had told people around him that he wanted direct payments to be much higher, he did not suggest that he was unwilling to accept the package containing the $ 600 amount, half of the $ 1,200 amount approved. in the first aid package, which some legislators had been. pushing for this time.
When an agreement was reached between congressional leaders, Trump’s aides signed in believing the president was on board, although two officials said Tuesday they did not believe the package was explained to them in detail.
In fact, throughout his video message, Trump criticized several provisions that were actually part of the overhead bill, not the Covid relief bill.
“It’s called the Covid Relief Bill, but it has almost nothing to do with Covid,” the president said at one point.
While the overhead bill, which allocates money to all federal agencies for the remainder of the fiscal year, was combined with the stimulus agreement, the funds allocated to the overhead bill don’t mean less is available for the bill. of Covid aid law.
White House aides expressed surprise and annoyance at Trump’s video message on Tuesday.
Few aides knew the president was recording the five-minute announcement from the garland-adorned diplomatic reception room in the residence’s basement, and at least one White House official, Deputy Press Secretary Brian Morgenstern, told the journalists an hour before the video. published that Trump had signaled his intention to sign it.
After the video was released, attendees were quick to find out what the president’s official position on the legislation was and whether he was really threatening to veto the legislation.
He did not participate directly in the talks, leaving the task to Mnuchin, who praised the package in a statement Tuesday morning.
Like many of his own aides, Republicans on Capitol Hill were not informed that Trump was going to criticize the stimulus bill. A Republican leadership aide told CNN “no” when asked if this was expected.
This story has been updated.
CNN’s Lauren Fox and Phil Mattingly contributed to this report.
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