With Jobless Aid Expired, Trump Sidelines Himself in Stimulus Talks

On Monday, the president said he remained “totally involved” in the talks, even though he was not “over there with Crazy Nancy.” But while White House officials say that he is interested in the talks and is closely monitoring them, he has not sought to use the full powers of his office to prod a deal, and more often he has complicated the already sensitive negotiations.

The situation reflects the dysfunctional dynamic that Mr. Trump has developed with leaders of both parties in Congress. He has a toxic relationship with Ms. Pelosi, with whom he has not met face-to-face since last year. And Republicans have learned to eye their own president warily in delicate negotiations, knowing that he is prone to changing his position, bucking party principles and leaving them to suffer the political consequences of high-profile collapses.

In the stimulus talks, Mr. Trump’s ideas have often been out of sync with members of his own party. On Monday, he said he was considering acting on his own to eliminate payroll taxes, something a president does not have the power to do himself, and an idea that his advisers had dropped from the talks in the face of near-unanimous opposition by Republican lawmakers. The eviction moratorium he has championed was not a part of the Republican plan.

“I’ll do it myself if I have to,” Mr. Trump said.

While that might be possible, virtually every other measure under discussion to stimulate the economy would require congressional approval.

The stakes of the negotiations could not be higher. Business leaders pleaded with lawmakers to draft a sweeping recovery package to help the hardest-hit industries survive the crisis. And economists warned that the expiration of the $600-per-week enhanced unemployment payments could already be dragging down consumer spending.