Be in time before the elections: will Trump be able to implement new measures to combat the consequences of the pandemic

Donald Trump signed a decree and three executive orders aimed at mitigating the negative economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the country's citizens.

In particular, according to one of the documents, it is planned to postpone payroll taxes until the end of this year for those Americans who earn less than $ 100 thousand a year.

Another order says to extend the payment of the Supplementary Unemployment Insurance benefit of $ 400 per week.

In addition, the new measures will extend the "moratorium on eviction" from rented housing for non-payment of rent. As noted in the decree, this is necessary to help vulnerable populations not be left without a roof over their heads in the midst of a pandemic.

One of the documents provides for additional measures in relation to loans for studies in universities.

"We will defer student loan payments and write off interest on them until further notice - students paying student loans are in many cases not even allowed to return to full-time study," Trump said during a press conference in New Jersey.

At the same time, he said that over the next two weeks he will prepare "an important decree obliging health insurance companies to cover the costs" of clients associated with those diseases that were diagnosed before they received insurance. It is worth noting that insurance companies often refuse to reimburse treatment costs arising in the event of complications or other problems caused by such diseases.

“Nothing like this has been done before, but the time has come to properly represent the interests and take care of the people of our country,” said the head of the White House.

At the same time, Trump expressed the hope that he will retain "his post in order to fulfill the tasks set."

“We will continue to work. We handle tasks like no other. In fact, no one would have (to do anything like that. - RT ) ", - said the American leader.

Party confrontation

Trump's new measures in the fight against the negative consequences of the pandemic followed after the White House was unable to reach an agreement on this issue with Democrats in Congress.

As the American leader said, the presidential administration has repeatedly declared its readiness to "immediately sign the law" providing for the payment of extended unemployment benefits, protection of Americans from eviction from rented housing and the provision of additional payments to families, "but the Democrats rejected these proposals."

Trump also said that the bill of the Democratic Party members contains "many provisions that have nothing to do with the coronavirus, in particular, a massive amnesty for prisoners, including those convicted of serious crimes."

Earlier, on August 7, the head of the White House promised to take measures bypassing Congress if the Democrats did not agree to a set of measures proposed by the presidential administration.

"If the Democrats continue to use the provision of urgently needed financial assistance as leverage, I will take steps within my presidential mandate to provide Americans with the benefits they need," Trump said.

However, members of the Democratic Party criticized Trump's new measures to combat the consequences of the pandemic.

“Today's meager announcements show that President Trump is still unaware of the severity and severity of the medical and economic crises facing working families. For families, these measures will not really help much, ”US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote on her Twitter page. 

Today's meager announcements show President Trump still does not comprehend the seriousness or the urgency of the health and economic crises facing working families. These policies provide little real help for families.

In turn, the leader of the Democrats in the Senate Chuck Schumer called the measures of support of the population, taken by Trump, "hopeless" and "weak." In his opinion, these measures "will lead to a reduction in unemployment benefits, which are desperately needed by millions of people, and will jeopardize social security and health care for the elderly," the politician said.

Instead of putting in the work to solve Americans' problems, Pres. Trump chose to stay on his golf course to announce unworkable, weak & narrow policy announcements to slash the unemployment benefits that millions desperately need and endanger seniors' Social Security & Medicare pic.twitter.com/QNwu3HEcbi

The head of the White House accused the Democrats of focusing on a non-COVID-19 agenda instead of fighting the pandemic and helping Americans.

“Unfortunately, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer continue to push for drastic measures that have nothing to do with the Chinese virus. Basically. That is, not only did the virus penetrate the country, there are also those in Congress who do not want to help our people, ”Trump said.

According to him, the Democrats "do not care about people" at all.

"They only care about their fellow politicians who have shown terrible incompetence in terms of leadership of cities and states - democratic cities and states in which they manage and manage money ineffectively," said the head of the White House.

• US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer
• Reuters
• © Jonathan Ernst

"Prevent new measures from being implemented"

The United States is still in the first place in the world in the number of cases of coronavirus infection. According to Johns Hopkins University, to date, more than 5 million infected have been identified in the country, at least 162 thousand people with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 have died. 

At the same time, less than three months remain before the election of a new head of state, so the current actions of Trump and the Democrats are due to the political race, experts say. However, the tasks of the current head of the White House are much more in line with the interests of American citizens, analysts emphasize.

As HSE professor Dmitry Evstafiev noted, Trump "seeks to launch the mechanisms of economic growth in the United States at any cost."

“And he has a number of reasons for this. In particular, some reduction in unemployment, the restoration of some jobs. However, the situation is complicated by a significant drop in GDP affecting the real sector of the American economy, ”the analyst explained in a conversation with RT.

According to Yevstafiev, for their part, the Democrats are seeking to "strike a blow at Trump's economic program."

“Members of the Democratic Party act on the principle“ the worse the better ”. It is important for them to completely neutralize Trump's ability to demonstrate at least minimal economic success, they need a deep economic crisis, ”the expert believes.

At the same time, Yevstafiev noted that the democrats are really “under the pretext of fighting the pandemic, pushing through initiatives,” in fact, they are not directly related to it.

"The proposal to release some of the criminals from prisons is an attempt to expand their own electorate before the elections, no more," the analyst explained.

• US health workers
• Reuters
• © Mike Blake

A similar point of view is shared by Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Center for Political-Military Studies at the Institute for the United States and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“Now Trump is trying with all his might to convince the Americans that it is he who protects their interests, and the Democrats, on the contrary, are trying to put a spoke in wheels, sabotaging the measures proposed by the presidential administration to stabilize the national economy and improve the standard of living of ordinary Americans. There are several months left before the presidential elections in the United States, the presidential campaign has reached the home stretch, and then any means are good, "the expert said in an interview with RT.

Dmitry Evstafiev believes that due to opposition from members of the Democratic Party, it will be quite difficult for the head of the White House to implement the content of new decrees to neutralize the negative consequences of the pandemic.

“Democrats will try to appeal Trump's plan of action to combat the consequences of the spread of COVID-19 in court, but they will most likely lose. However, they may prevent the head of the White House from implementing new measures before the elections. At the same time, it is essential for the incumbent president that they begin to be implemented before November, ”the analyst concluded.