Trump Demands $2000 Stimulus Check

President Donald Trump doesn’t want Americans to receive $600 in relief, he wants them to receive a $2000 stimulus check at the minimum. Trump ripped the $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill that Congress recently passed. He slammed the fact that the bill managed to earmark budgets for a lot of foreign programs while leaving only $600 for Americans who need help. 

RELATED: GOP Senator Blocks Second Round of Stimulus Checks

While Congress expects him to sign the bill, Trump strongly indicated that the lawmakers will need to send him a better bill that gives Americans more money. “Throughout the summer, Democrats cruelly blocked COVID relief legislation in an effort to advance their extreme left-wing agenda and influence the election,” the President said. He then decried that it took forever for Congress to craft a new package to give Americans much-needed help. He said, “However, the bill they are planning to send back to my desk is much different than anticipated.”

‘Bill Has Almost Nothing To Do With COVID-19’

Trump derided the bill’s length of more than 5,000 pages. He remarked that nobody in Congress probably read that bill in its entirety. While Congress called it the COVID relief bill, the President said that it has almost nothing to do with COVID.” 

Pointing out to line items with budgets for foreign aid and illegal aliens, Trump said that the bill contains so much wasteful spending. Instead, the bill should amend this bill to increase the “ridiculously low” $600 stimulus check to $2,000, or $4,000 for a couple. “I’m also asking Congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation, he said. He asked Congress to “send me a suitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver a COVID relief package.” Trump added, “And maybe that administration will be me, and we will get it done.”

Wasteful and Unnecessary Items

The President listed the foreign aid line items in the COVID bill. He reported that his bill contains $85.5 million for assistance to Cambodia; $134 million to Burma; $1.3 billion for Egypt and the Egyptian Military which will go out and buy almost exclusively Russian Military equipment; $25 million for democracy and gender programs in Pakistan; $505 million to Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.” 

Trump also said that the bill contains $40 million for the Kennedy Center, which he noted that “is not even open for business.” It also budgets $1 billion for the Smithsonian and $154 million for the National Gallery of Art. Then, there is $7 million for reef fish management; $25 million for the control of Asian carp, $2.5 million for an Amberjack fish survey in the Gulf of Mexico, $3 million in poultry production technology; $2 million to research the impact of downed trees, Trump also said the bill contains $566 million for FBI construction projects. 

Not Americans’ Fault

Finally, President decried that the bill also provides stimulus checks for family members of illegal aliens, which allow them to collect up to $1,800. Trump noted that the amount “is far more” than what Americans will get. 

He said that “Despite all of this wasteful spending and much more, the $900 billion packages provides hard-working taxpayers with only $600 each in relief payments.” Also, the bill doesn't allow enough money for small businesses and in particular restaurants.  Congress found plenty of money for foreign countries, lobbyists, and special interests while sending the bare minimum to the American people who need it. It wasn’t their fault, it was China’s fault, not their fault.”

Opposition from Conservatives

Apart from the President, other members of Congress also showed their disappointment with the bill. Representative Chip Roy of Texas (R) said that lawmakers were given very little time to go over the bill. “This bill was produced by legislative malpractice. The people’s representatives were locked out of this process. We didn’t get bill text until just before 2 p.m. Monday,” he said. “The bill was almost 5,600 pages long. They didn’t want us to read it. They just wanted us to pass it. Given what is in it, it is easy to see why.”

Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky) called out the fact that the bill tied “gender programs in Pakistan” with coronavirus relief.  He tweeted that “I predict the day our country's finances collapse, we will still be funding ‘gender programs in Pakistan. Tonight's COVID relief/stimulus bill has no less than $10 million for said programs attached to it.”

Posting Clarifications

The House voted on defense and Homeland Security spending individually. This gave House Democrats the opportunity to vote against these budgets without jeopardizing the coronavirus package. Meanwhile, the Senate voted on all budgets just once. This turned off many conservative officials. 

Matt Whitlock, the senior adviser to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, tried to clarify the COVID bill. He said the relief package did not include foreign aid or other line items. These items are part of the bigger spending package Congress approved as next year’s budget. The COVID relief package is also part of the approved spending bill. He tweeted that “A lot of confusion about non-COVID priorities in this bill. Important to note that this is a year-end spending bill with a COVID relief bill attached to it.” He emphasized that this time, “It's *NOT* like when Pelosi had a trillion in non-COVID priorities in a COVID bill.

Watch the Bloomberg Quicktake News where President Donald Trump demands that Congress Increase Covid-19 Stimulus Checks from $600 to $2,000:

Do you agree with the President that Americans deserve a better stimulus package? Will, a $2000 stimulus check work better for you instead of the $600 check in the approved bill. Let us know what you think by sharing your ideas in the comment section below.