Trump teases stepping in if Republicans oppose multi-trillion dollar stimulus package

Fed chair warns lack of further COVID-19 stimulus imperils recovery

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic recession could falter unless the federal government provides additional stimulus relief.

President Trump hinted he might intervene if Republican senators don't support a second coronavirus stimulus package worth trillions of dollars, during an interview with Charles Benson of WTMJ4 Milwaukee on Saturday.

"You have put $1.8 trillion on the table. Will there be more money by Election Day? Do you have a deal?" Benson asked the president.

Trump replied: "I want the money by tonight, but Nancy Pelosi doesn't want to approve it because she thinks it's good politically for her not to approve it... She wants to bail out poorly run Democrat states. And we don't want to do that. I don't think she wants to approve it anyway. I think even if we gave her the money for the poorly run Democrat states, I don't think she'd approve it anyway."

Benson asked if Trump was getting any resistance from GOP senators and the president said he "will take care of that problem in two minutes."

"If I had something that would be good, I think I could quickly convince the Republicans to do it," he added. "They're ready to do it, but Nancy Pelosi does not want to do it. I mean, I wish your governor would call up Nancy Pelosi and say, 'do it.' She wants to hold it until after the election and I think it's bad for the Democrats. But I'm ready willing, and able. If they sent a bill over, I am ready, willing, and able. And I wanted a higher number than [Pelosi] wanted."

When Benson pushed for a specific number, all Trump would say is that it would be more than Pelosi's proposal.

President Donald Trump arrives for an event honoring Bay of Pigs veterans in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Sept. 23, 2020. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

"I'd go higher than her number," he said. "[COVID-19] was China's fault. They caused this problem and they're going to pay for this problem."

Pelosi appeared on ABC's "This Week" Sunday and said Trump has 48 hours to come up with an acceptable stimulus deal that Democrats can sign on to in order to pass legislation before November's election. She also claimed that when administration officials said Democrats agreed to language for a coronavirus testing plan, this was not entirely accurate.

“On this subject where we have agreement, we don’t have agreement on the language yet, but I’m hopeful,” Pelosi said. She said that the administration changed terms like “requirements” to “recommendations,” and “plan” to “strategy," and "shall" to "may."

"When you say 'may' you're giving the president a slush fund," Pelosi added. "He may do this, he may grant, he may withhold."

The Speaker of the House's office also sent out an email update on Sunday, highlighting the differences in language between GOP and Democratic proposals. Pelosi, however, said she is "optimistic that we can reach [an] agreement before the election. To that end, we are writing language as we negotiate the priorities, so that we are fully prepared to move forward once we reach agreement."

This news comes as Trump prepares to take on Democratic challenger Joe Biden in the final presidential debate Thursday, with topics ranging from the coronavirus to national security.

The debate will be hosted by NBC at Belmont University in Nashville and is set to be moderated by Kristen Welker.

Fox News' Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report. Get updates on this story from foxbusiness.com.

Money Us Economy People Donald J-trump Health Coronavirus/economy/stimulus Check Politics News Us Washington Dc