Stimulus talks continue, President Trump wants ‘skinny’ coronavirus relief bill

WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke for 40 minutes on Thursday about a coronavirus stimulus relief bill, according to a Pelosi spokesperson.

“Their conversation focused on determining whether there is any prospect of an imminent agreement on a comprehensive bill. The Secretary made clear the President’s interest in reaching such an agreement,” said deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill.

At the same time, White House spokeswoman Alyssa Farah said President Donald Trump wants a “skinny” coronavirus relief bill that includes elements such as direct payments and a bailout to the struggling airline sector.

Pelosi’s office called the statements from Farah a contradiction of her call.

However, “the Speaker trusts that the Secretary speaks for the President,” Hammill said.

In a later update with the media, Farah said President Trump worked from the Oval Office, making calls on stimulus.

“The president remains committed to, we’d like to see airline aid,” she said. “We’d like to see sort of a skinny piecemeal bill if we’re able to get that, that will deal with PPP and with direct payments. But we’re open to going with something bigger, but we’re not going to operate from the 2.2 trillion that the speaker laid out.”

PPP is the Paycheck Protection Program, which expired in August.

This is a developing story.