President Trump is holding a news conference in Bedminster, New Jersey, Friday night as he hints at executive action as another week of negotiations over a coronavirus aid package on Capitol Hill ended no closer to a deal. The news conference is slated for 7 p.m.
After talks between Democratic leaders House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows collapsed Friday, Mnuchin said he would recommend executive action to the president.
"Pelosi and Schumer only interested in Bailout Money for poorly run Democrat cities and states. Nothing to do with China Virus! Want one trillion dollars. No interest. We are going a different way," the president tweeted Friday afternoon.
But the roughly $1 trillion Democrats are requesting for state and local government would be distributed across the country, to Republican-led states and localities, as well. Pelosi and Schumer said they told White House negotiators Thursday they would decrease the coronavirus aid proposal by $1 trillion if Republicans increased their proposal by $1 trillion. That was a no-go.
Mr. Trump has already said he was considering executive action to halt evictions and suspend payroll tax collection without a deal in Congress. A suspension of the payroll tax had already been dropped from negotiations on Capitol Hill, since it attracted little interest from Republicans. Mr. Trump has honed in on the move as his idea for boosting the economy.
While a payroll tax cut could mean more income in workers' pockets, it would do little for the millions of unemployed Americans whose boosted unemployment benefits expired last week.
This is a developing story and will be updated.