President Donald Trump abruptly switched gears on Tuesday night after ending negotiations over a much-needed new COVID-19 relief bill earlier that day.
“The House & Senate should IMMEDIATELY Approve 25 Billion Dollars for Airline Payroll Support, & 135 Billion Dollars for Paycheck Protection Program for Small Business,” Trump tweeted. “Both of these will be fully paid for with unused funds from the Cares Act. Have this money. I will sign now!”
“If I am sent a Stand Alone Bill for Stimulus Checks ($1,200), they will go out to our great people IMMEDIATELY,” he tweeted less than a half hour later. “I am ready to sign right now. Are you listening Nancy?”
The President’s demands were a full 180 from his Twitter announcement on Tuesday afternoon in which he stated that he had directed White House aids to cease negotiations on the stimulus bill with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) until after Election Day on November 3.
“I have asked Mitch McConnell not to delay, but to instead focus full time on approving my outstanding nominee to the United States Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett,” Trump tweeted.
His about-face came in the middle of a head-spinning Twitter spree that saw Trump repost dozens of tweets, sprinkled with a few of his own, about a variety of the typical grievances the President has long held: The FBI Russia probe, negative media coverage, mail-in voting, and so on.
