PoliticoDonald Trump ends coronavirus relief talks amid stalemate with Nancy Pelosi
- President says House speaker ‘not negotiating in good faith’, asks Senate to focus on confirming his Supreme Court pick
- Democrats and Republicans will now battle over who is to blame while millions of Americans continue to suffer financial hardship
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by John Bresnahan, Heather Caygle and Sarah Ferris on politico.com on October 6, 2020.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he is ending negotiations with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leaders over a new economic aid package to respond to the coronavirus until after November 3, a momentous decision that will impact the millions of Americans suffering from the pandemic and could sway the outcome of the election.
One day after being released from the hospital after contracting Covid-19, Trump blamed Pelosi for the failure to reach an agreement on the coronavirus relief legislation. But in reality the two sides have remained hundreds of billions of dollars apart through high-level discussions that have dragged on since July.
With Trump‘s decision to end the negotiations, Democrats and Republicans will now battle over who is to blame while millions of Americans continue to suffer serious financial and medical hardships. More than 210,000 Americans have died from the virus and millions of others remain out of work.
“Nancy Pelosi is asking for $2.4 Trillion Dollars 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 $1.6 Trillion Dollars and, as usual, she is not negotiating in good faith. I am rejecting their … request, and looking to the future of our Country,” Trump tweeted on Tuesday afternoon following a phone call with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.