Vacationing Trump golfs as relief bill remains snagged in D.C.

President Donald Trump spent his Christmas golfing in Florida as a government shutdown looms and COVID relief hangs in the balance.

Trump, at his Mar-aLago club in Palm Beach for the holidays, had no events on his public schedule after throwing the future of a massive COVID relief and government funding bill into question. Failure to sign the bill, which arrived in Florida on Thursday night, could deny relief checks to millions of Americans on the brink and force a government shutdown in the midst of the pandemic.

The White House declined to share details of the president’s schedule. It said only: “During the Holiday season, President Trump will continue to work tirelessly for the American People. His schedule includes many meetings and calls.”

Trump’s vacation came as Washington was still reeling over his demand that an end-of-year spending bill give most Americans $2,000 COVID relief checks — far more than the $600 members of his own party had agreed to.

The bipartisan compromise had been considered a done deal and had won sweeping 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 attached to a massive $1.4 trillion government funding bill, laden with billions allocated to foreign governments and organization, it will force a federal government shutdown, in addition to delaying aid checks and halting unemployment benefits and eviction protectionsin the most dire stretch of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the nation continues to reel 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 pandemic’s economic toll.

To mark the holiday, the president and first lady Melania Trump tweeted out a pre-recorded video message in which they wished Americans a M\merry Christmas and thanked first responders and members of the military.

“As you know, this Christmas is different than years past,” said Melania Trump, who focused on the acts of “kindness and courage” the pandemic had inspired .

Trump hailed the vaccine doses now being delivered and thanked those responsible. “It is a truly a Christmas miracle,” he said.

Meanwhile, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have been trying to salvage the yearend legislation to try to prevent a shutdown. Democrats will call House lawmakers back to Washington for a vote Monday on Trump’s $2,000 proposal. They are also considering a vote Monday on a stop-gap measure at least to avert a federal shutdown and keep the government running until Democrat Joe Biden is inaugurated Jan. 20.

In addition to the relief checks, the COVID bill that passed would establish a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefit, provide a new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses, restaurants and theaters and money for schools, and provide money for health care providers and to help with COVID vaccine distribution.