Trump was right about those $2,000 stimulus cheques. Why did he wait so long to speak out?

The president’s disengagement from governing as he fumes over his loss has already cost Americans dear, writes Andrew Buncombe

Donald Trump on the golf course in Florida (AP)

For the richest nation in the world to be dispatching a paltry $600 to its citizens at a time of intense need was surely, as the president called it, a “disgrace”.

Amid the effects of a pandemic that has not only killed more than 330,000 Americans and infected 19 million but also cost millions of people their livelihoods, a payment of $2,000 is seen by many as a minimum, coming as it could a full nine months since a one-off payment of $1,200 in April.

Yet over the weekend, when he belatedly signed a $2.3trn aid and budget package into law, there were more questions than answers.

First of all, if Mr Trump truly wanted to help his citizens and depart as a president who had fought to the end for them, why did he not raise his voice until almost the very end?

And if he really did want people to get $2,000 and not $600, why did his own administration, led by treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, spend months negotiating for the lesser sum?

As so often with Mr Trump, it seems he was more interested in creating noise and confusion, this time as he got ready to leave the White House having decided he would prefer to spend his final days in office plotting for his future, seeking to undermine the integrity of the election and generally acting up.

He has also done nothing to help the chances of the GOP in winning those two run-off seats in Georgia, contests that will determine who controls the Senate.

Not for the first time, Mr Trump’s bluff was called by Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats. After the president claimed he wanted to increase the size of those stimulus cheques, Democrats seized on the opportunity and called a vote.

On Monday afternoon, the Democratic-controlled House voted 275-134 to agree to the sum of $2,000. While there have again been calls for Ms Pelosi to stand aside as speaker for a new generation, she again displayed her tactical prowess, forcing a vote she knew would make Democrats look generous while highlighting the division among Republicans on the issue.

The legislation, which passed just a day after Mr Trump signed the broader stimulus bill into law, was opposed by 130 Republicans, two independents, and only two Democrats.

Now the bill must go to the Republican-led Senate, where it is almost certain not to pass – allowing Democrats to accuse Mitch McConnell and others of failing to help the American people.

“The House and the President are in agreement: we must deliver $2,000 cheques to American families struggling this Holiday season,” Ms Pelosi tweeted after the vote was taken. “The House just passed the #CASHAct – it’s time for the Senate to do the same.”

The Democrats’ leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said he would seek to pass the measure in the upper chamber by unanimous consent.'

For once, there was no word from Mr Trump.