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December 23, 2020 at 12:45 PM
President Donald Trump seems poised to “blow up” the budget bill and the $900 billion COVID-19 relief package if the $600 economic impact payments aren’t boosted to $2,000, according to Greg Valliere, chief U.S. strategist for AGF Investments.
“Trump labels the bill a ‘disgrace,’ blindsiding all of his aides, including Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin,” Valliere wrote in his Wednesday morning email briefing. “The financial markets may have to grapple with uncertainty over the COVID aid package for several more days.”
Trump has said the massive 5,593-page bill fails to include enough coronavirus-related relief, stating that the proposed $600 stimulus checks should be boosted to $2,000.
In a video released on Twitter, Trump said the COVID-19 relief bill “has almost nothing do with COVID.”
Trump called the $600 stimulus payments “ridiculously low,” stating that if the bill isn’t amended to boost the payments — to $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for a couple — “the next administration will have to deliver a COVID relief package.”
Valliere opined that the “most likely scenario” is that Trump is bluffing on a veto, though “there’s a scenario in which Trump is serious about his veto threat, and could hold out for $2,000 checks,” which would add $370 billion to the bill’s price tag.
