KEY POINTS
- Trump accused Democrats of holding $1,200 stimulus checks hostage to aid for cash-strapped state and local governments
- The president is still recovering from COVID-19 and is taking a steroid that interferes with thought processes and causes aggression
- Trump’s shift in direction comes as the recovery from the coronavirus-induced recession appears to be losing steam
After putting the kibosh on further coronavirus stimulus negotiations, President Donald Trump Wednesday urged Congress to send him a trimmed-down measure that would provide $1,200 payments to individuals, along with funds to shore up the airlines and small businesses.
Trump sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average into a more than 375-point dive Tuesday, tweeting he had ordered an end to negotiations between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The two sides were more than $500 billion apart on the size of the next round of stimulus. The president said there would