Trump calls for $2 trillion infrastructure spending amid coronavirus relief
US President Donald Trump today called for a $2 trillion (£1.6 trillion) infrastructure spending package as part of the country’s upcoming coronavirus relief bill.
Trump said the funds should be included in plans for a so-called Phase 4 stimulus package aimed at bolstering the economy during the pandemic.
“With interest rates for the United States being at ZERO, this is the time to do our decades long awaited Infrastructure Bill,” he wrote in a tweet.
“It should be VERY BIG & BOLD, Two Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great infrastructure of our Country! Phase 4.”
It comes a day after speaker Nancy Pelosi hinted at a bipartisan Phase 4 package that would include funds to upgrade the country’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
Pelosi has argued that previous measures, including the historic $2.2 trillion emergency aid signed into law last week, have not gone far enough to tackle the virus.
The speaker said she aims to have a new infrastructure package ready for approval when the House of Representatives returns from recess in late April.
The bumper spending plan would grant Trump the opportunity to push through a policy he has supported since his 2016 election campaign.
The president this year outlined a new $1 trillion plan that would rely on federal spending. While the ambitions have been supported by Democrats, Trump has so far faced opposition from within his own party.