Stimulus checks delayed after government insists on adding Trump’s name: report

President Trump speaks during a meeting with health care executives Tuesday.(Evan Vucci/AP)

Coronavirus stimulus checks across the country may be delayed after the Treasury Department reportedly ordered President Trump’s name be added to them.

It’s the first time any president’s name will appear on checks mailed directly to Americans, the Washington Post reported. Because of the last-minute change, the checks will be delayed a few days, IRS officials told the news outlet.

The $1,200 checks will say “President Donald J. Trump” on the left side in the memo section, the Washington Post reported.

“It’s absolutely unprecedented,” Nina Olson, an 18-year IRS vet who stepped down last year, said of the placement of a president’s name on the checks.

Treasury Department officials told the Post there would be no delay.

Trump had previously asked Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to let him personally sign the checks, the Post reported. But with laws against such a signature, his name was shifted to the memo section. A civil servant will sign instead.

The checks will be delayed because computer code must now be changed to add Trump’s name, IRS officials told the news outlet. They said the short delay at the beginning would likely have longer-term effects, too.

For lower-income Americans, the checks are the centerpiece of the $2 trillion stimulus package passed earlier this month to combat the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Around 26,000 Americans have died from the disease of late Tuesday night, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins.