More Financial Relief for Americans with Trump’s Latest Executive Order

For Trump, lagging badly in the polls against his Democratic rival Joe Biden ahead of the November 3 presidential election, the orders were partly about showing he is in charge.

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He turned the signing ceremony in the ballroom of the golf club into an assault on his opponents and threw in several false claims about his accomplishments in office.

To cheers from club members invited to watch the event, Trump insulted the Democratic "crazy" leader of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, denounced Biden as "far left," and claimed that Democrats want to "steal the election."

Biden called Trump's orders Saturday "a series of half-baked measures."

"They are just another cynical ploy designed to deflect responsibility," Biden said, adding that Americans need a "real leader" who would work to hammer out a deal with lawmakers.

Haggling in Congress

One key Trump order promises to get $400 a week added to Americans' unemployment benefits, while two others offer some protection from evictions and relief for student loans.

The $400 assistance is below the $600 offered in the expired stimulus package.

It may also end up amounting only to $300 extra a week, because Trump said $100 would be provided from state, not federal, budgets — and only if states were willing or able to do so.