Stimulus Check: Nancy Pelosi Believes Stock Market Plunge Will Prompt Donald Trump to Renegotiate Talks

While negotiations over a second stimulus check bill seem to have hit a wall, Speaker Nancy Pelosi believes the recent stock market plunge will prompt President Donald Trump to renegotiate terms from previous talks. On Wednesday, Pelosi sat down for an interview with MSNBC, and during the conversation, explained how Trump is “very affected by the stock market.” She added that he has a strong desire to maintain support from the “401(k) crowd,” or voters who watch the stocks closely due to their retirement fund investments.

Pelosi’s comments come after stocks took a big over the past week, which coincided with new spikes in coronavirus cases, as well as decreasing chances that Democrat and Republican lawmakers will come to an agreement on a new stimulus bill. According to Forbes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen more than 1,500 points since the market closed on Friday. This is roughly a 6% drop. On Wednesday, the broader market had its worst day since June.

Pelosi has been engaged in stimulus bill negotiations with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, and while the talks seemed to be going well, the pair have still not come to an agreement on terms. Pelosi has since issued a letter to Mnuchin, urging him and the Trump Administration to come to an agreement. “Our nation will soon pass the heartbreaking milestones of nine million coronavirus cases and a quarter of a million American deaths,” she wrote, “at the same time that eight million are being pushed into poverty, 17 million children are food insecure, and over 23 million workers are on unemployment.”

Pelosi’s letter continued: “Meanwhile, as the coronavirus surges and the stock market plummets, we are still awaiting the Trump Administration’s promised responses on multiple items of critical importance. More than a week ago, you publicly announced that the White House would accept Democrats’ testing, tracing, and treatment language with only a ‘light touch.’ We still have not received a final answer on new compromise language regarding whether the Administration will agree to the national, science-based strategy for testing, tracing, and treatment that is needed to crush the virus, as well as language on vaccines, the provider fund and ACA coverage for unemployed workers.”