According to CNN, The Hill, and The Washington Post, President Donald J. Trump is prepared to raise the cost of a comprehensive coronavirus relief stimulus package to $1.8 trillion, further closing the gap with Democrats in negotiating stimulus check 2

This number is the largest in the history of the United States.

This figure is just $400 billion short of the $2.2 trillion currently proposed by Democrats and included in the revised HEROES Act, which the House passed almost on a party-line basis last week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has said she does not want to go below $2 trillion. [According to The Hill, President Trump said in a phone interview with radio host Rush Limbaugh earlier today (October 9), "Frankly, I would like to see a bigger stimulus package than the Democrats and Republicans are offering. I'm heading in the exact opposite direction right now." Okay?"

Just three days ago, President Trump surprised Pelosi by declaring that negotiations on the stimulus bill were over. However, the president reversed course by midday yesterday (October 8), and Pelosi did not stop negotiating with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the White House's point man for the talks.

"Cobid bailout negotiations are progressing. Do it big!" Trump tweeted Friday morning.

One of the new major concessions is that the White House will provide $300 billion to cash-strapped state and local governments, up from the previous $250 billion, The Hill reported.

Democrats are now asking for $436 billion for state and local governments, half of their original request for the $3.4 trillion HEROES Act passed by the House in May.

Every comprehensive plan to date, including both HEROES Acts, the Senate Republican leadership's $1.1 trillion HEALS Act, and the $1.5 trillion bipartisan Problem Solvers bill put together by House moderates in mid-September, has included the original $1,200 or Included in the plan is a reauthorization of the stimulus package at or near the original $1,200 level.

The two sides also broadly agree on the need for more aid to the struggling airline industry and small businesses. Democrats and Republicans disagree on almost everything else.

According to The Hill, "The devil and the angel are in the details," Pelosi said today on MSNBC. Part of it is about money, part of it is about policy."

However, any deal the White House agrees to with Pelosi must pass the Senate. The Senate has a Republican majority, and many senators oppose spending more than $1 trillion or any additional stimulus package.

It is not certain whether President Trump will be able to move enough Republican senators who are reluctant to pass the bill to clear the 60-vote Senate hurdle, or whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) will be willing to push a bill that receives more Democratic votes than Republican votes. It is not clear whether or not he is willing to push for a bill that has more Democratic votes than Republican votes.

One unnamed Republican official said to be close to McConnell told the Washington Post that there would be "about 10" Republican senators who would support a $2 trillion stimulus package.

There are also elections. Members of both houses are out campaigning. The Senate will reconvene on October 19, and its first order of business will be to confirm President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.

"We have to remember that there are a lot of senators on the Republican side who are up for reelection in 2020," former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor told the Post. One of the most lopsided votes they could take is to spend trillions more on the bailout bill."

At an event in his home state of Kentucky today, McConnell blasted the zigzagging of the stimulus bill as "like everyone is rubbing elbows for political advantage."

"I'd like to see us go above and beyond like we did in March and April," he added.