Trump on Dec. 22 criticized the coronary epidemic economic evacuation bill passed by Congress across party lines the day before. He said the bill gives the American people outrageously low subsidies, and he asked Congress to amend the bill to increase the subsidies for Americans from $600 to $2,000, and asked Congress to abandon expensive foreign aid programs. Trump also said that if the bill is left for the next administration to approve, “the next administration could be me.”
Trump tweeted a video address on the evening of the 22nd (EST). He described the $900 billion epidemic evacuation bill that was passed by Congress and sent to his desk as a “disgrace. He blamed the bill for the large amount of money going to unrelated and expensive projects in foreign countries and the disproportionately small amount of money going to the American people for relief. He asked Congress to amend the bill to increase grants from $600 per person to $2,000, or $4,000 per couple. He also asked that more relief funds be used to assist small and medium-sized businesses hit hard by the epidemic. He reiterated that the pandemic is China’s fault, not the fault of Americans.
Trump asked Congress to drop unnecessary and costly programs in the bill, citing the bill’s $85.5 million for Cambodia, $134 million for Burma, $1.3 billion for Egypt and the Egyptian military (and Egypt’s purchase of almost all Russian military equipment), $25 million for democracy programs in Pakistan, and $505 million for Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama.
According to Trump, “Congress finds a lot of money for foreign countries, lobbyists, and special interests, while sending a minimum of very little to the American people in need….” He added that the bill is called the Covid (Coronavirus) Assistance Act, but the content has almost nothing at all to do with Covid.
According to an AFP report from Washington today, the epidemic economic stimulus bill, which was passed by the U.S. Congress on Monday night, actually involved Trump’s Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. But the bill cannot take effect without the president’s signature. Trump asked Congress to send him an “appropriate” amendment, otherwise the bill will probably be approved by the “next administration. But he added the phrase: “And the next administration could be me.” Trump still does not admit that he lost to Joe Biden on Nov. 3.
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