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“We are going to be asking tomorrow, we’re seeing the Senate. We’re going to be meeting with House Republicans, Mitch McConnell, everybody discussing a possible payroll tax cut or relief, substantial relief,” Trump said from the White House surrounded by officials he’d tasked to respond to the issue.
“We’re also going to be talking about hourly wage earners getting help so that they can be in a position where they’re not going to ever miss a paycheck,” he added.
While some members of Congress have publicly floated ideas to spur the US economy and help affected industries, before Monday the President had not yet endorsed any specific action and officials have offered differing views of how sweeping a stimulus plan could be.
Some of Trump’s Republican allies have also lobbied him on a payroll tax holiday, though Democrats in Congress and top administration officials have downplayed the prospect for such a move.
A senior administration official told CNN on Monday the White House is reconsidering the possibility of major economic stimulus legislation, though Trump and his top economic adviser Larry Kudlow both indicated Friday the White House wasn’t interested in such a move.
“Congress is sharing a lot of ideas,” the official said. “Up to the President.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will meet with Republican senators over lunch on Tuesday to talk about economic stimulus, a source briefed on the meeting tells CNN.
The White House has also invited Wall Street executives, including bank CEOs, to a meeting this week on coronavirus, according to an official familiar with the plans. The meeting is likely to come later in the week. The official declined to provide a list of expected attendees.
The President has been privately downplaying the seriousness of the coronavirus epidemic, insisting that it will be short-lived and over within a couple of months.
But he has been most angered by the economic impact of the coronavirus. The President told people in Florida this weekend that he believes the markets are overreacting to coronavirus. As has been true throughout the disease’s spread, Trump is most concerned that he will be unfairly blamed for an economic downturn before his reelection.
The President has matched those private feelings with public messaging, downplaying the seriousness of the virus by comparing it to flu death tolls and blaming the market losses on the news media as well as Russia and Saudi Arabia.
“Saudi Arabia and Russia are arguing over the price and flow of oil. That, and the Fake News, is the reason for the market drop!,” the President tweeted on Monday.
He also called it “good for the consumer” that gas prices are falling and
Some of Trump’s allies, including those who once worked for him at the White House, say Trump’s intent focus on the Federal Reserve won’t help him through this particular crisis.
Kudlow’s predecessor at the National Economic Council, Gary Cohn, told CNN on Monday that the government will likely need to bail out airlines if the coronavirus crisis persists and that monetary stimulus will not help ease the economic pain.
“If this crisis lasts another week or two, we should bail out the airlines,” said Cohn, who added that government assistance would help prevent major layoffs.
“You can’t fight an emotional and psychological war with financial easing,” Cohn said. “People aren’t going to spend more — go out to restaurants, book vacations — because the Federal Reserve cut interest rates.”
Instead, Cohn argued that the administration should be working on getting people their tax refunds faster. That might help the “gig economy” workers who are hurting because consumers are staying home and avoiding public places.
This story has been updated with additional developments Monday.
CNN’s Cristina Alesci, John Harwood and Manu Raju contributed to this report.
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