Trump Tantrum: Calls for stimulus negotiations to stop until after Election Day

Trump calls for stimulus negotiations to stop until after Election Day

By Phil Mattingly, Manu Raju, Clare Foran and Lauren Fox, CNN


Trump's focus remains on himself even as virus ravages country

McConnell indicated Tuesday afternoon, however, that he backs Trump's move to end stimulus talks.
"I do," McConnell told CNN when asked if he supports the President's decision.
"I think his view was that they were not going to produce a result and we need to concentrate on what's achievable," McConnell said of Trump's move.
But in the wake of the announcement, the President's call to end the talks generated some bipartisan pushback.
Republican Rep. John Katko, a New York lawmaker who represents a swing district, responded to the news in a tweet saying, "I disagree with the President. With lives at stake, we cannot afford to stop negotiations on a relief package," and adding, "I strongly urge the President to rethink this move."
Pelosi slammed the announcement from the President in a statement, saying, "Clearly, the White House is in complete disarray."
"Today, once again, President Trump showed his true colors: putting himself first at the expense of the country, with the full complicity of the GOP Members of Congress," Pelosi said, adding, "Walking away from coronavirus talks demonstrates that President Trump is unwilling to crush the virus."
Pelosi and Mnuchin spoke over the phone at 3:30 p.m. ET, according to Drew Hammill, Pelosi's deputy chief of staff, who tweeted that Mnuchin "confirmed that the President has walked away from COVID talks."
"The Speaker expressed her disappointment in the President's decision to abandon the economic & health needs of the American people," Hammill said.
Pelosi unloaded on the President over the decision during a private conference call with House Democrats on Tuesday, telling her caucus that Trump isn't telling the truth about the negotiations, arguing that Democrats have a scientific plan to crush the virus and that Republicans have a real contempt for science, a person on the call told CNN.
Pelosi warned that health care workers will lose their jobs and people will get hurt by Trump's decision, calling it a sad moment for the country, the person said.
The speaker addressed the news on the call by saying of Republicans, "This is who they are," a source told CNN.
Pelosi also questioned whether Trump taking a steroid was impacting his thinking, according to two people on the call. Trump was given the corticosteroid drug dexamethasone on Saturday after his oxygen level transiently dipped, White House physician Sean Conley said during a briefing on Sunday.
"Believe me, there are people who think that steroids have an impact on thinking," Pelosi told Democrats as she tried to explain her view of what the President was trying to do, a person on the call said. "So I just don't know."
One member texted CNN that Trump's tweet was "incredible," while another reacted by saying only, "wow."
Democrats and Republicans have been at odds over proposals for a new stimulus measure for months, despite efforts to reach a deal through bipartisan negotiation.
One of the key issues has been disputes over a price tag for any new stimulus.
Last week, the House of Representatives approved a $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus measure put forward by House Democrats with no bipartisan deal in sight as Pelosi and Mnuchin continued talks.
The legislation gives Democrats something to point to as lawmakers face pressure from constituents to deliver more aid as the pandemic continues to take a devastating toll across America.
But the Democratic plan was widely rejected by Republicans as too costly and is not expected to be taken up by the GOP-led Senate.
That vote came after House Democrats moved in May to pass a sweeping bill to spend roughly $3 trillion on relief measures, a proposal that similarly generated opposition from Republicans, who dismissed the aid package as a liberal wish list.