Trump changed his mind at the last minute Thursday, but on Sunday night tweeted that there is ‘Good news on Covid Relief Bill’
Aides had prepared for the President to sign the bill as early as Christmas Eve, when it arrived at Mar-a-Lago for his signature. But the plan was scrapped at the last minute, two sources with knowledge of the circumstances told CNN.
As a result, critical benefits had lapsed for millions of jobless Americans Saturday evening.
The bill was flown to Mar-a-Lago on Thursday afternoon, two days after Trump surprised even his own aides by objecting to the package in a video. Trump did not explicitly say whether he would veto the bill, and aides — with no clear instructions from the President — made preparations at his Florida club for him to sign it.
In anticipation of the signing, the smaller of Mar-a-Lago’s two ballrooms was prepped for a 7 p.m. ceremony, complete with a desk and chair for Trump to sit, and his customary pens at the ready, according to the source.
However, as the hour approached, aides were informed the President would not be signing the relief bill that evening. One source told CNN that Trump had “changed his mind.”
The country, Congress and many of Trump’s closest aides and advisers had remained in the dark as to what he intended to do. He had not offered any clarity since posting the video objecting to the bill on Tuesday night.
In fact, throughout his video message asking Congress to amend it, Trump railed against several provisions that were actually part of the omnibus spending bill, not the Covid relief bill.
“It is called the Covid relief bill, but it has almost nothing to do with Covid,” the President said at one point.
While the omnibus spending bill — which appropriates money for all the federal agencies for the rest of the fiscal year — was combined with the stimulus deal, funds allocated to the omnibus bill don’t mean less is available for the Covid relief bill.
Still, the President had publicly maintained his opposition to the legislation — leaving small business support, jobless benefits and relief checks for millions of Americans in limbo.
This story is developing and will be updated.
CNN’s Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.
