Donald Trump demands bigger stimulus checks in $900 billion COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress

In an unexpected video posted to Twitter on Tuesday night, President Donald Trump denounced a sweeping COVID-19 relief package he was expected to sign, calling it a "disgrace" and urging congressional leaders to make several changes to the bill including increasing direct payments for Americans.

"It's called the COVID relief bill, but it has almost nothing to do with COVID," he said in a video posted just moments after he issued a raft of pardons for several allies. "I’m asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000 or $4,000 for a couple."

The president stopped short of saying he would veto the bipartisan legislation but was expected to sign the measure alongside a $1.4 trillion spending bill to fund the government. Trump called on Congress to remove "wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation," appearing to conflate the relief bill with the government spending measure.

The roughly $900 billion measure was attached to a $1.4 trillion spending bill to fund the federal government through Sept. 30, 2021 (the end of the fiscal year) to form a nearly 5,600 page-bill that is one of the largest pieces of legislation Congress has ever tackled. The measure also includes bipartisan provisions like the end of surprise medical billing and legislation creating Smithsonian museums for women and Latinos.

In implying a threat to veto the bill, which Congress passed Monday night, Trump also referenced his efforts to somehow stay in office despite President-elect Joe Biden's win in November.

"I am also asking Congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation, and to send me a suitable bill, or else the next administration will have to deliver a Covid relief package,” Trump said. “And maybe that administration will be me, and we will get it done.”