Name: Donald Trump Stalls $1,200 Relief Checks to Slap His Name on Them
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Donald Trump Stalls $1,200 Relief Checks to Slap His Name on Them

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This week, some 80 million Americans should receive a $1,200 payment from the U.S. government, a one-time relief payment authorized by Congress that's supposed to keep millions of furloughed and unemployed workers afloat through the . But while those have started going through, the physical checks apparently need some tweaking. That's because Donald Trump has insisted that the Treasury Department print his signature on every single one.The change requires Treasury officials working from home to scramble to update programming to include his signature on the memo line, under the phrase "Economic Impact Payment." In U.S. history, a president's name has never appeared on a government check, reports the . In fact, the president can't sign checks from the Treasury because he isn't the signatory—typically, a civil servant signs such checks to make sure that federal payments are nonpartisan. At a earlier this month, Trump vehemently denied rumors that he wanted to sign the relief checks, saying, "No. Me sign? No. There’s millions of checks. I’m going to sign them? No. It's a Trump administration initiative. But do I want to sign them? No."Trump tends to view much of his efforts through a self-marketing lens—licensing his name for use on or slapping his name on whatever product he can, from to . Now, Trump is again pushing adding his name to something he's not responsible for. Stamping his name on the stimulus checks might give the impression that they come out of his checking account—but the stimulus was crafted and approved by Congress, and it's funded by taxpayers.Self-promotion, cutting corners, and taking credit for others' work have long been cornerstones of Trump's business dealings. Before entering politics, Trump—whose eponymous empire was largely —had a long history of stiffing workers and contractors. In 2016, the Wall Street Journal detailed multiple allegations against the then-presidential candidate, with a chandelier shop, a curtain maker, a lawyer, and others accusing Trump of refusing to pay, partially or in full, once they had completed work for him. Speaking to the Journal, Trump claimed that he often refuses to pay agreed-on wages if he deems the results merely "OK, then I’ll sometimes cut them." In 1980, his company employed 200 undocumented Polish construction workers for 12-hour shifts without helmets or safety equipment—those that did get paid by Trump received up to . To this day, Trump still owes millions of dollars to contractors who worked on his Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City—many companies that supplied materials for the construction went bankrupt as a result. Atlantic City mayor Marty Small told the in January, "It’s still a horror story for all of these people. He took advantage of people."Since becoming president, Trump's reputation for skipping out on bills hasn't improved. Late last year, reported that Trump owed nearly $1 million to 10 different cities that provided security and other resources for the president's campaign rallies—a tiny amount compared to the his campaign reportedly has on hand. In another bait-and-switch on his name, Trump was also forced to pay $2 million in a settlement after illegally using his charity, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, to pay off business and campaign debts.Despite IRS officials telling the Post that the last-minute revisions will likely cause delays, the Trump administration insists that the checks will go out at the start of next week. In the meantime, more than 17 million people have filed for unemployment benefits since the coronavirus outbreak hit the U.S. One out of every three renters at the start of April, and food banks across the country are with the newly hungry. And those one-time $1,200 checks with Trump's name are far less than the tax breaks handed out to Americans making over to more than $1 million—those .The highest office in America has turned into a giant cesspool of corruption.

This week, some 80 million Americans should receive a $1,200 payment from the U.S. government, a one-time relief payment authorized by Congress that's supposed to keep millions of furloughed and unemployed workers afloat through the . But while those have started going through, the physical checks apparently need some tweaking. That's because Donald Trump has insisted that the Treasury Department print his signature on every single one.The change requires Treasury officials working from home to scramble to update programming to include his signature on the memo line, under the phrase...

Donald Trump Stalls $1,200 Relief Checks to Slap His Name on Them

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