Trump plays Christmas Day golf with Lindsey Graham while complaining about stimulus bill’s ‘pork’

Lawmakers still unsure if outgoing president will sign $900bn Covid bill

Graeme Massie
Los Angeles
Friday 25 December 2020 18:49 GMT
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Donald Trump golfed on Christmas Day with Lindsey Graham as he complained about the ‘pork’ contained in the latest Covid stimulus bill.

The outgoing president went to his golf club in West Palm Beach with the South Carolina senator as he continued to push back on the $900bn bill he has so far refused to sign.

The actual bill has now been flown to Palm Beach, where he staying at Mar-a-Lago, so it is available to sign.

Lawmakers reportedly have no idea if Mr Trump will sign the bill, veto it, or do nothing, which would see the federal government shut down at midnight on Monday, reports Politico.

But Republicans told Axios that they expect Mr Trump to sign the bill “in the nick of time.”

Mr Trump caused chaos earlier this week when he decided he would not sign the bill, which would give every American $600.

Despite his administration helping broker the deal, Mr Trump released a video calling for checks of $2,000 to be issued.

That idea was applauded by Democrats but quickly rejected by House Republicans on Thursday.

Around 14 million Americans are also set to lose their unemployment benefits on Saturday.

The president vowed he would “work tirelessly” over his Christmas break but he was also seen golfing on Christmas Eve.

It is the 31st golf vacation of Mr Trump’s presidency and takes the taxpayer cost of nearly 300 days of golfing to $151.5 million, according to HuffPost.

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