Trump ends Covid budget stimulus relief talks
US President Donald Trump has said he's ending negotiations over a Covid-19 relief bill, and will only resume talks following the election.
He predicted he'd win next month's election and pass a bill afterwards. US stocks fell following the announcement.
Budget talks between Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin commenced in July.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Mr Trump had "turned his back" on the American people.
"Make no mistake: should you be out of work, if your business is closed, if your son or daughter's school is turn off, should you be seeing layoffs in your community, Donald Trump decided today that none of this - none of it - matters to him," Mr Biden said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Republican president - who's himself becoming treated for Covid-19 - countered: "Crazy Nancy Pelosi and the Radical Left Democrats were just playing 'games' with the desperately needed Workers Stimulus Payments.
"They just wished to look after Democrat failed, high crime, Cities and States. These were never in it to greatly help the workers, and they never will be!"
He said he previously instructed Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to target efforts on confirming his Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
Mr McConnell later told reporters he supported the president's move because he believed a deal with the Democrats was looking too difficult. "We must focus on the achievable," he said.
Lawmakers from both parties had envisioned another round of Covid-19 relief spending to pass prior to the 3 November election, but Mr Trump's tweet seems to have abruptly suspended that prospect.
It comes as coronavirus cases rise in a number of parts of the country, the outbreak widens among White House staff and Republican senators, and hits Pentagon top brass.
