Trump's 'roid rage? President crashes the market by shutting down COVID relief talks - during a storm of tweets from White House quarantine attacking the FDA, FBI and Joe Biden
President Donald Trump has issued a flurry of 42 tweets and retweets on a wide range of topics in just a few hours while under quarantine in the East Wing, slamming the FBI, FDA, Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Chris Wallace.
In one tweet, Trump set his terms for approving a stimulus bill from Congress, hours after saying he would cease all negotiations with Democrats until after the November 3 election.
'If I am sent a Stand Alone Bill for Stimulus Checks ($1,200), they will go out to our great people IMMEDIATELY. I am ready to sign right now. Are you listening Nancy?' he tweeted on Tuesday night.
Trump has long called for individual stimulus payments and the continuation of the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses, but has rejected other elements of the Democrats' proposed stimulus plan. He reiterated that position on Tuesday.
His barrage of tweets came shortly after the President was discharged from hospital mid-way through his treatment for Covid-19, which has him receiving a course of the steroid dexamethasone. Experts say the drug can cause mental side effects that 'have an impact on your thinking' and could affect Mr Trump's brain.
One medic said they see 'substantial' side effects in around a third of people, including anxiety and aggression, while the class of medicines that the drug belongs to has in the past been found to impair judgement or even to cause psychosis.
Trump is seen at the White House on Monday night. He went on a Twitter rampage on Tuesday, tweeting about a variety of topics
'The House & Senate should IMMEDIATELY Approve 25 Billion Dollars for Airline Payroll Support, & 135 Billion Dollars for Paycheck Protection Program for Small Business,' Mr Trump wrote in another tweet.
'Both of these will be fully paid for with unused funds from the Cares Act. Have this money. I will sign now!' he continued.
Biden, Trump's Democrat opponent in the presidential election, responded by tweeting a gif that could only be aimed at the president, of himself saying 'get off Twitter.'
Trump also reacted with displeasure to new FDA rules that will make it impossible for a vaccine to gain approval for release prior to the election.
'New FDA Rules make it more difficult for them to speed up vaccines for approval before Election Day. Just another political hit job!,' Trump tweeted separately.
Earlier in the day, the FDA said vaccine makers should follow trial participants for at least two months to rule out any major side effects before seeking emergency approval - a timeline that will rule out any hope of a vaccine before the November 3 election, as Trump had often promised.
Other targets of the president's ire included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Fox News anchor Chris Wallace.
'Wear your mask in the “beauty” parlor, Nancy!' he said of Pelosi, in reference to surveillance footage that captured her visiting a San Francisco salon without a face covering, in violation of the city's lockdown rules.
'Chris Wallace was a total JOKE. Protected Joe all night long. He’s no Mike!!!' Trump tweeted of the newsman who moderated last week's presidential debates, comparing him unfavorably to his father Mike Wallace.
Mr Trump's tweets come as he is still taking the steroid dexamethasone as part of his treatment for coronavirus. The steroid is known to have side effects that can affect the brain and thought processes.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi suggested Trump may have warped thinking because of the steroids and said: 'There are people who think that steroids have an impact on your thinking. So, I don't know,' Pelosi said, according to Politico.
Doctors on Tuesday warned that dexamethasone comes with risks of serious side effects, including mood swings, aggression and confusion.
Trump's medical team on Sunday said the president was started on dexamethasone, a generic steroid long and widely used to reduce inflammation associated with other diseases. The steroid was begun after Trump experienced low oxygen levels.
Dr Ashish Jha, Dean of Brown University's School of Public Health, told Fox News: 'We definitely see in 30-40 percent of people pretty substantial effects...[of] the anxiety, the agitation.
Scientific research has shown that just a few days on dexamethasone can leave patients with memory and cognitive deficits. Corticosteroids - the class of drugs dexamethasone belongs to - may cause psychiatric side effects in anywhere from 1.8 to 57 percent of patients taking them.
A study published by the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota found that unpredictable 'adverse psychiatric reactions' were relatively common among people taking the drugs.
Experts' first worry was that the use of dexamethasone to treat Trump suggested he was very sick, since the $6 steroid may be dangerous to people with mild COVID-19.
But because it's been linked to everything from mania to memory problems, and aggression to psychosis, some are also concerned that the president's judgement could be impaired as he reportedly continues to work through his illness.
Trump called debate moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News 'a total JOKE' in his Twitter rant
Trump singled out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in several tweets on Tuesday
In another tweet, he cited reports of voting irregularities: '11,00 North Carolina residents get incorrect voter registration forms. 2000 LA County Voters received “faulty” Ballots, with NO WAY TO VOTE FOR PRESIDENT. Many others throughout USA. Here we go. This will be the most corrupt Election in American History!'
In a lengthy string of tweets, Trump spoke about federal investigations into Russian election interference and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private server for government emails.
'I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax. Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions!'
It came as a response to a tweet from Hoover Institution media fellow Paul Sperry, whom Trump also retweeted more than a dozen times in the span of an hour.
Trump has previously vowed to declassify documents related to the FBI's 2016 Trump-Russia investigation, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's subsequent probe, which found no proof that the Trump campaign criminally conspired with the Russian government.
Indeed, in a follow-up tweet, Trump wrote: 'All Russia Hoax Scandal information was Declassified by me long ago. Unfortunately for our Country, people have acted very slowly, especially since it is perhaps the biggest political crime in the history of our Country. Act!!!'
Another stream of tweets lashed out at the FBI's Trump-Russia probe and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's (above) subsequent investigation
'So I had to constantly fight off all of this Scum, achieve more than any other President in First Term, and then they talk Chaos. They created crimes against me and this administration!' Trump added in a retweet of Fox News commentator Greg Jarrett, in reference to the FBI's Trump-Russia probe.
'Can’t believe these con men are not yet being PROSECUTED. Pathetic!' Trump said of the FBI investigators.
Biden also came in for Trump's ire in a tweetstorm from the White House on Tuesday, and he issued a tweet that appeared to be aimed at the President with the caption 'Get off Twitter'
Trump's tweetstorm on Tuesday night followed an earlier tweet that sent stock markets crashing, when he said there would be no deal with Democrats on additional pandemic stimulus until after the election.
While some theorized that it might be a negotiation tactic, others pointed to one of the medications Trump is taking to treat coronavirus, Dexamethasone, a steroid that can have side affects of aggression, agitation and confusion.
On Monday, Trump's Twitter account was locked after he shared the email address of a New York Post columnist.
Twitter forced Trump to delete the tweet before unlocking the account, citing rules against sharing private information without consent.
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