Trump calls off relief talks until after poll
The US president is recovering but more Americans are being infected by the virus
US President Donald Trump said he is quickly recuperating from COVID-19, but the United States is falling further against the pandemic with more people contracting the virus.
Soon after his return to the White House despite doctors stating “not out of the woods”, Trump has called off talks on a new stimulus plan for the coronavirus-ravaged US economy until after the November election, sending Wall Street plunging and upending recent progress made in the long-delayed negotiations.
A tweet by the president on Oct 6 undid the optimism that had developed in recent days after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin resumed talks on a follow-up measure to the $2.2 trillion CARES Act that was passed in March to blunt the downturn caused by the pandemic.
Earlier, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell had called for additional spending to help the US weather the downturn that has caused tens of millions of layoffs and a historic contraction in second-quarter annualized GDP.
But Trump accused the Democratic House leader of negotiating in bad faith, and said he had asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
to focus instead on confirming his appointed judge to an opening on the Supreme Court.
“Nancy Pelosi is asking for $2.4 trillion to bailout poorly run, high crime, Democrat States, money that is in no
way related to COVID-19,” Trump tweeted, citing an incorrect figure for the Democrats’ latest proposal.
“We made a very generous offer of $1.6 trillion and, as usual, she is not negotiating in good faith. I am rejecting
their request, and looking to the future of our country.”
Trump’s tweet sucked the enthusiasm from Wall Street traders who had been hoping for another injection of congressional cash, dropping the
Dow 1.3 percent at the close before its rebound a day later.
Trump also announced that he will take part in the second presidential debate in Miami on Oct 15 against his Democratic challenger Joe Biden. However, Biden said that the second debate should not be held if Trump still tests positive for the virus.
“I think we’re gonna have to follow very strict guidelines,” Biden told reporters in Maryland. “Too many people have been infected and it’s a very serious problem.”
More than 7.38 million people had been confirmed infected in the US with nearly 209,000 of them dead by Oct 7, according to WHO data.
The number of infections linked to the White House continues to grow. Stephen Miller, senior adviser to Trump, and several others have joined a growing list of individuals in the president’s circle known to have contracted the virus, which include his confidants, aides, campaign advisers, allies on Capitol Hill and journalists covering the White House.
Moreover, members of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff are reportedly in quarantine after exposure to the novel coronavirus. They include Chairman Mark Milley, Vice- Chairman John Hyten and a panel of high-ranking US military officers.