PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) – President Donald Trump spent his Christmas golf in Florida with government shutdown looming and COVID relief at stake.
Trump, at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach for the holidays, had no events on his public calendar after questioning the future of a massive COVID relief and government funding bill. Failure to sign the bill, which arrived in Florida on Thursday night, could put millions of Americans on the brink of collapse and force a government shutdown during the pandemic.
The White House declined to share details of the president’s schedule, although he was expected to play golf Friday with South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally.
White House spokesman Judd Deere said Trump was aware of the explosion in downtown Nashville Early Friday, the authorities appeared to be willful, but the president said nothing publicly about it in the hours that followed.
Trump tweeted that he planned to “make a short speech to service representatives around the world” through a video conference Friday to celebrate the holiday, but stated, “Fake News not invited!” Without giving details, the White House only said Trump would work “tirelessly” during the holidays and have “many meetings and phone calls.”
Trump’s vacation came when Washington was still doubting his surprise eleventh-hour demand that a year-end bill negotiated by Congressional leaders for months on end give most Americans $ 2,000 COVID checks – far more than the $ 600 members of his own party had agreed. The idea was quickly rejected by House Republicans during a rare Christmas Eve session, leaving the proposal in limbo.
The bipartisan compromise was considered a done deal and had received wide approval in the House and Senate this week after the White House assured GOP leaders that Trump supported it. If he refuses to sign the deal, which is tied to a $ 1.4 trillion government funding bill, it will force a federal government shutdown, in addition to delaying aid checks and stopping unemployment benefits and eviction protections in the most dire part of the world. the pandemic.
“A lot of calls and meetings at Trump International in Palm Beach, Florida. Why wouldn’t politicians want to give people $ 2000 instead of just $ 600? he tweeted after leaving the golf course Friday afternoon. ‘It wasn’t their fault, it was China. Give our people the money!’
Trump’s decision to attack the bill is seen, at least in part, as political punishment for what he sees as insufficient support from congressional republicans to his campaign to overturn the results of the November 3 election with unfounded claims of voter fraud.
“At a rally in Florida today, everyone was asking, why aren’t the Republicans in arms and fighting over the Democrats stealing the fake presidential election?” Trump tweeted Thursday.
“I will never forget it!” he added later.
Trump has been refusing to accept the election results for weeks now and has pushed new, increasingly scandalous plans to try to reverse the results. He is urged on by allies such as his attorney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who accompanied the President to Florida aboard Air Force One.
Trump has provided no credible evidence to back up his election claims, which have been refuted by a long list of officials, including judges, former Attorney General William Barr, Republican governors and local election administrators.
Meanwhile, the nation continues to falter as the coronavirus spreads, with record infections and hospitalizations and more than 327,000 now dead. And millions are now going through the holidays alone or struggling to make ends meet without adequate income, food or shelter thanks to the economic toll of the pandemic.
The Justice Department said Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen was also briefed on the Nashville explosion and had ordered all the department’s resources available to assist. The FBI will take the lead in the investigation, spokesman Joel Siskovic said.
Three people were treated in hospitals after a recreational vehicle, with a recorded blast warning, exploded in downtown Nashville. The explosion caused widespread communication failures that disabled police emergency systems and flight operations at the city airport.
To mark the holiday, President and First Lady Melania Trump tweeted a pre-recorded video message wishing Americans a Merry Christmas and thanking emergency responders and members of the military.
“As you know, this Christmas is different from years past,” said Ms. Trump, focusing on the acts of “kindness and courage” that had caused the pandemic.
Trump praised the vaccine doses now being delivered and thanked those responsible. “It really is a Christmas wonder,” he said.
Meanwhile, Democratic House Chairman Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have been trying to save the year-end bill to avoid a shutdown. Democrats will call House lawmakers back to Washington for a vote Monday on Trump’s $ 2,000 proposal, though it would likely die in the Republican-controlled Senate. They are also considering voting on an emergency measure on Monday to at least prevent a federal shutdown and keep the government going until Democrat Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
In addition to the emergency checks, the passed COVID law would establish a temporary supplemental unemployment benefit of $ 300 per week, provide a new round of funding for hard-hit businesses, restaurants and theaters and money for schools, and bring in money for health care providers and to help distribute COVID vaccines.