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Washington Post says there was a little bit of a golf course persuasion that took place over the holiday to get President Trump to agree to the COVID stimulus package.

Fahrenthold: ‘Incredible’ how little Trump is doing in final days of presidency

“So this package was negotiated basically without any input from Trump. He didn’t seek to have any input, and then his Treasury Secretary was sort of negotiating on his behalf. It gets approved. Both houses of Congress approved it. President Trump all of a sudden says, ‘No, I won’t sign it. I want much bigger stimulus checks,’ which that meant all kinds of things were going to lapse or break down. People were going to be left in the lurch,” explained to Seattle’s Morning News on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Radio.

“So Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s most loyal allies in Congress, a senator from South Carolina, goes down to Florida and plays golf with Trump on Christmas Day,” Fahrenthold continued. “So he’s out there lobbying Trump on the golf course, saying, ‘Look, you’ve got to sign this.’ And, basically, what happened was they came up with a way for Trump to save face by sort of demanding a bunch of changes in a way that sounded very official, ‘I’m going to formally ask Congress to take back money for this or that,’ but which would have no practical effect.”

Trump signs the bill, and then the things he says he’s secured don’t really matter, Fahrenthold explained.

“Trump basically surrenders, but in a way that looks like he got something,” he said.

Listen to the full interview below:

Pulitzer Prize winning reporter David Fahrenthold joins ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Radio’s Dave Ross every Tuesday on Seattle’s Morning News. Listen to Seattle’s Morning News weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.