George Washington is seen with printed medical mask on the one Dollar banknotes in this illustration taken, March 31, 2020. (Reuters photo)

The US Treasury Department has ordered President Donald Trump’s name to be printed on checks the government will send to 70 million Americans to cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus crisis, a decision that will slow their delivery by several days.

The $1,200 checks will bear Trump’s name in the memo line, below a line that reads, ‘Economic Impact Payment,’ US media outlets reported Tuesday, citing unnamed administration officials.

The Washington Post was first to report on the news Tuesday.

Two senior officials told The Post that the decision will likely delay the delivery date on the first set of checks, slowing a process that could already take about 20 weeks.

The move to add his name to the checks sparked criticism that Trump, who is aiming to be re-elected in November, is trying to get voters to believe he is giving them the coronavirus relief payments.

The US Congress approved a $2.3 trillion coronavirus aid package last month that includes direct cash payments of up to $1,200 for individuals, as well as other measures. The Treasury Department expects the checks to start going out next week.

You are getting your money late because the President thinks it is more important that his name be on the check than that you are able to pay your bills on time, Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, tweeted.

Walter Shaub, the former director of Office of Government Ethics, tweeted that Trump was using the relief checks to promote himself.

Where you see the dying and suffering of your fellow Americans, Donald Trump sees another opportunity to promote himself, and, by extension, his reelection campaign. Corruption, you see, has its visionaries, Shaub wrote.

The coronavirus epidemic has shut down large parts of the US economy, and around 16 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the past few weeks.

US coronavirus deaths rose by at least 2,228 on Tuesday, a single-day record. Over 607,000 have been affected and more than 28,000 have died in the US as of Wednesday morning, according to a Reuters tally.

SOURCE: PRESS TV