Donald Trump Calls for Second Stimulus Checks ‘Right Now’ Ahead of Deadline

President Donald Trump called on Congress to approve a second round of stimulus checks in the next stimulus relief bill. The president voiced his support for an additional round of direct payments to Americans while speaking with Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade Sunday, approximately eight months after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) began distributing the first round of $1,200 payments in mid-April. Those payments had been approved under the CARES Act.

Speaking with Kilmeade about the current negotiations taking place on Capitol Hill, Trump said he wants “to see checks.” While the president did not specify how much he would like those payments to be, he did state he wants them to be “for more money than they’re talking about.” He added that he is “pushing it very hard, and to be honest with you, if the Democrats really wanted to do the deal, they’d do the deal.”

His comments echo past remarks and reports about stimulus payments. After signing his name on the CARES Act and authorizing the distribution of the first checks in late March, Trump has been a staunch supporter of an additional round of payments. In July, as the GOP prepared to release their HEALS Act proposal, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed the White House supported “another round of economic impact payments.” Just a few weeks prior, sources told The Washington Post the president told aides he supported a second round of stimulus checks because he believed they would help the economy. Meanwhile, in early October, the president tweeted his support, writing that he was “ready to sign” a standalone bill to provide $1,200 payments to the American people.

According to The Washington Post, as new talks take place on Capitol Hill, Trump continues to push for another round of payments. One person in direct communication with the president told the outlet Trump “has privately indicated a willingness to send another round of stimulus checks of as much as $2,000.” In a statement, a White House spokesperson said, “while the amount is yet to be determined, direct payments to American workers continue to be a high priority for the president.”

The White House has since introduced its own stimulus bill proposal. The Trump-backed plan would send $600 payments to eligible Americans, half the amount of the first round. Another proposal on the table, a bipartisan bill totaling $908 billion, does not include a second round of checks. Send. Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley introduced an amendment that would provide stimulus checks similar in amount and eligibility to those provided under the CARES Act.