Updated at 9:21 p.m. ET
President Trump is threatening to derail a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress on Monday after months of bitter negotiations.
In a video released on his Twitter feed Tuesday evening, Trump said he wants Congress to "send me a suitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver a COVID relief package."
Trump said the bill was a "disgrace" and called the $600 payments to individuals in the current bill "ridiculously low." He said he wants that boosted to $2,000 per individual and $4,000 for couples — despite the fact that it was Republicans who stood in the way of higher payments for months.
The relief package was passed as part of a bill to fund government operations for the rest of the fiscal year, though the president did earlier sign a stopgap measure that extends government funding until Monday.
Trump blasted money appropriated for foreign aid, environmental programs and cultural institutions, calling them "wasteful."
Virtually all of the complaints Trump made in the four-minute video — including foreign aid agreements, aid to the Kennedy Center, fish management language and more — are not part of the $900 billion covid relief agreement but rather included in other, separately negotiated parts of the legislation, including a $1.4 trillion omnibus appropriations bill and a measure authorizing $9.9 billion in water projects. These bills and many others were packaged together in the agreement, which is over 5300 pages long.
Trump did not expressly threaten to veto the legislation. It was passed by overwhelming majorities in the House and Senate, with enough votes to potentially override a presidential veto if Trump were to carry out that option. But the process would take weeks.
Trump's move throws a big wrench into what's been a hotly contentious process.
Democrats seized on Trump's call for higher payments. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said they'll bring the $2,000 direct payments to the floor Thursday for a vote by unanimous consent.
"Republicans repeatedly refused to say what amount the President wanted for direct checks," Pelosi said. "At last, the President has agreed to $2,000 — Democrats are ready to bring this to the Floor this week by unanimous consent. Let's do it!"
Trump's comments also put leading Republicans in a box.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina responded on Twitter, calling the relief bill "imperfect," but that it "will save jobs and lives. The sooner the bill becomes law - the better."
The implications for what happens next could be severe. If he refuses to sign the bill, the government will shut down on Dec. 29. The $900 billion in emergency economic aid will be frozen, and the race for the two Senate seats in Georgia could also be upended.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), however, quickly responded to the Twitter post by saying congressional Democrats would move as soon as Thursday, when the House is scheduled to meet for a brief pro forma session, to advance the $2,000 stimulus checks.
“Republicans repeatedly refused to say what amount the President wanted for direct checks,” she posted on Twitter on Tuesday night after Trump’s message. “At last, the President has agreed to $2,000 — Democrats are ready to bring this to the Floor this week by unanimous consent. Let’s do it!”
Logistically, though, none of this is likely to happen.
If any Republican in the House opposed Pelosi’s effort on Thursday, it would not pass. Such a change would also require Senate Republicans to pass the measure unanimously, something that is also unlikely..
Trump can continue to keep himself in the news by escalating the drama of his behavior, seeking a showdown with the Senate Republicans who are doing their very best to avoid precisely such a showdown. He wants a fight.