唐纳德·特朗普总是喜欢把他的名字写在东西上——用大写字母——写在塔上，酒店上，高尔夫球运动度假村-甚至牛排。作为总统，他的黑色标记大而独特。
因此，当有人质疑他是否希望自己的名字出现在去年发给美国人的数百万张刺激支票上时，这不仅似乎是合理的，还引发了民主党人的猛烈批评。
现在，美国广播公司新闻部获得的内部电子邮件让人们深入了解了在总统竞选期间付款开始前几天争相添加特朗普名字的情况选举年。
这些文件提供了特朗普政府试图为这些付款邀功的幕后一瞥。政府首次公布了显示未能最终兑现的支票版本的图像，包括当时财政部长史蒂文·姆努钦(Steven Mnuchin)的名字和特朗普的名字。
最终，“唐纳德·特朗普总统”出现在支票最终版本的备忘录行的“经济影响支付”字样下方，支票发送至3500万美国人。
与特朗普不同，乔·拜登总统的名字没有出现在今年春天开始的新一轮刺激检查中，尽管比如特朗普拜登确实签署了一封寄给美国人的信，通知他们付款的情况。
去年特朗普的名字出现在实际支票上专家认为在总统竞选连任时引发了争议。
批评者指责特朗普试图为美国人在经济危机中依赖的一项援助计划邀功。特朗普以给企业打上自己的烙印为职业。
当时，姆努钦说，把总统的名字包括在内是他的主意，当一份报纸报道引起人们对这一决定可能会推迟付款的担忧时，国内税收署(Inf Region Service)表示否认有任何耽搁。
事实上，美国广播公司新闻部通过《信息自由法》的请求获得的电子邮件显示，官员们争先恐后地为检查结果生成模型。
美国广播公司新闻部(ABC News)在起诉财政部(Treasury Department)加快发布与纳入特朗普姓名相关的通信后，获得了这些电子邮件。就在特朗普1月份离任的五天前，该部门提供了一些关键电子邮件，而就在上周，该部门还与美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)分享了支票草案的图像。
新闻自由记者委员会在诉讼中代表美国广播公司新闻。
在一些支票图像草稿中，Mnuchin的名字出现在特朗普的名字旁边。最终，这位秘书的绰号没能进入最终版本。
但财政部拒绝分享来自高级官员的某些电子邮件，他们在邮件中讨论了备忘录中会出现的内容。
几十个涂黑的部分隐藏了密钥交换，甚至那些发送和接收电子邮件的人的名字。未修改的部分没有明确包括特朗普的名字是谁的主意。
该部门向美国广播公司新闻部提供的几封电子邮件显示，添加总统名字的决定引发了混乱。
就在付款到期的前几天，财政部高级官员大卫·莱布瑞克要求一个新的模型。那一天，2020年4月9日，另一名官员感谢同事们“如此迅速地扭转了局面”，同时他们发送了关于字体大小的电子邮件。
然后，第二天晚些时候，莱布瑞克给国内税收署署长发了电子邮件，告诉他他们已经决定了最终的语言。国税局是财政部的一部分，负责分配付款。
“我们从部长那里得到消息，他希望关于经济影响支付的备忘录行与附件中的图像一致，”官员大卫·莱布瑞克在给国税局局长查尔斯·雷蒂格的信中写道。
莱蒂格说，他需要正式确认后才能继续;第二天下午，莱布瑞克回答说，“这是部长的直接指示。”
两天后，4月13日，莱蒂格再次要求确认姆努钦本人正在指示国税局将特朗普的名字列入备忘录行。贝勒·迈尔斯是姆努钦的副参谋长，那天深夜他回答说:“是的。”
第二天，该部门的财政服务局更新了模型，以反映这一变化。
在给财政部官员的另一封电子邮件中，莱蒂格证实了《华盛顿邮报》的报道，即他和其他国税局官员直到后来才“意识到”将特朗普的名字列入支票的决定。
在4月14日晚些时候的反复中，《邮报》报道说，将特朗普的名字包括在内的决定可能会推迟支票的发放;该报援引了未透露姓名的官员。
这个故事在财政部引起了反响，姆努钦迅速通过电子邮件将其发送给白宫办公厅主任马克·梅多斯。国会山的民主党人抨击政府，表示责备的特朗普伤害有需要的美国人要求高的更多信息。
国税局很快否认会有任何延误。第二天，即4月15日，直接存款开始进入银行账户，本月晚些时候，特朗普的支票也随之而来。
从财政部提供给美国广播公司新闻的电子邮件中，尚不清楚到底是谁首先想到了包括总统的名字。
《邮报》报告援引未透露姓名的政府官员的话说，特朗普曾私下向姆努钦暗示，他希望正式签署这些支票。但是之前的做法是由公务员签署。
总统被问及那份报告，并否认他想在支票上签名。
“没有，我签?不，”他说在4月3日的新闻发布会上。“有几百万张支票。我要签了吗?不。这是特朗普政府的举措。但是我要签吗?没有。”
后来，在4月15日，他说他并不“太了解”将自己的名字包括在内的决定。
“我不知道太多，但我知道我的名字在那里，”他在另一次新闻发布会上说。“我不知道他们要去哪里，他们要怎么去。我明白这不会耽误任何事。我对此很满意。我不觉得这有什么大不了的。我相信人们会很高兴收到一张又大又胖又漂亮的支票，上面有我的名字。”
然后过了几天，Mnuchin说想到了。
“我们确实在支票上签了总统的名字，”姆努钦在4月19日的一次采访中说CNN采访。“那是我的主意。他是总统，我认为这对美国公众来说是一个了不起的象征。”
An inside look at how Donald Trump's name came to appear on stimulus checks
Donald Trumphas always liked to put his name on things -- in big letters -- on towers, hotels,golfresorts -- even steaks. As president, his black-marker signature was outsize and famously distinctive.
So, when questions were raised about whether he would want his name on millions of stimulus checks sent to Americans last year, it not only seemed plausible, it also unleashed a firestorm of criticism from Democrats.
Now, internal emails obtained by ABC News give an inside look at the scramble to add Trump's name just days before payments started going out in the middle of a presidentialelection year.
The documents provide a glimpse behind the scenes as the Trump administration sought to take credit for the payments. And for the first time, the government has released images showing versions of the checks that did not make the final cut -- including those with then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's name alongside Trump's.
In the end, "President Donald J. Trump" appeared below the words "Economic Impact Payment" on the memo line of the final version of the checks, which were sent to35 million Americans.
Unlike Trump, President Joe Biden's name did not appear on a new round of stimulus checks that started going out this spring, althoughlike Trump, Biden did sign a letter mailed to Americans to notify them about the payments.
The inclusion of Trump's name on the actual checks last year -- whichexperts believedwas unprecedented -- sparked controversy as the president ran for reelection.
Critics accused Trump, who has made a career of branding businesses with his own name, of trying to take credit for an aid program Americans relied on amid an economic crisis.
At the time, Mnuchin said it was his idea to include the president's name, and when a newspaper report raised concerns the decision could delay payments, the Internal Revenue Servicedeniedthere was any holdup.
In fact, emails obtained by ABC News through a Freedom of Information Act request show that officials scrambled to generate mock-ups for what the checks would look like.
ABC News obtained the emails after suing the Treasury Department to speed up the release of communications related to the inclusion of Trump's name. The department provided some key emails just five days before Trump left office in January, while it shared the draft check images with ABC News only last week.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press represented ABC News in the lawsuit.
Appearing in some of the check image drafts was Mnuchin's name, alongside Trump's. Ultimately, the secretary's moniker did not make it to the final version.
But the Treasury Department has refused to share certain emails from top officials in which they discussed what would appear in the memo line.
Dozens of blacked-out portions hide key exchanges and even the names of those sending and receiving emails. The unredacted parts do not make clear whose idea it was to include Trump's name.
Several emails that the department did provide to ABC News showed the scramble unleashed by the decision to add the president's name.
Just days before payments were due to go out, a senior Treasury official, David Lebryk, requested a new mock-up. That day, April 9, 2020, another official thanked colleagues "for turning this around so quickly," while they emailed about font size.
Then, late the next day, Lebryk emailed the head of the Internal Revenue Service to tell him they had settled on the final language. The IRS, part of the Treasury Department, was in charge of distributing the payments.
"We got word from the Secretary that he would like the memo line on Economic Impact Payments to read consistent with the attached image," the official, David Lebryk, wrote to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig.
Rettig said that he needed formal confirmation before he could proceed; Lebryk replied the next afternoon that "this was a direct instruction from the Secretary."
Two days later, on April 13, Rettig again asked for confirmation that Mnuchin himself was instructing the IRS to include Trump's name on the memo line. Baylor Myers, who served as Mnuchin's deputy chief of staff, replied late that night, "Yes."
The next day, the department's Bureau of the Fiscal Service updated its mock-up to reflect the change.
In another email to Treasury officials, Rettig confirmed reporting by The Washington Post that he and other IRS officials had been "unaware" of the decision to put Trump's name on the checks until later in the process.
Amid the back-and-forth, late on April 14, the Post reported that the decision to include Trump's name would likely delay the checks going out; the paper cited unnamed officials.
That story ricocheted around the Treasury Department, with Mnuchin quickly emailing it to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Democrats on Capitol Hill blasted the administration,accusingTrump of hurting Americans in need anddemandingmore information.
The IRS quickly denied there would be any delay. Direct deposit payments started hitting bank accounts the next day -- April 15 -- and the checks with Trump's name followed later in the month.
It is unclear from the emails the Treasury Department provided to ABC News who exactly thought of including the president's name in the first place.
The Postreported, citing unnamed administration officials, that Trump had privately suggested to Mnuchin he wanted to formally sign the checks. But previous practice dictated that a civil servant sign them instead.
The president was asked about that report and denied he wanted to sign the checks.
"No. Me sign? No," hesaidat an April 3 news conference. "There’s millions of checks. I’m going to sign them? No. It’s a Trump administration initiative. But do I want to sign them? No."
Later, on April 15, hesaidhe did not "know too much about" the decision to include his name.
"I don't know too much about it, but I understand my name is there," he said during another news conference. "I don't know where they're going, how they're going. I do understand it's not delaying anything. And I'm satisfied with that. I don't -- I don't imagine it's a big deal. I'm sure people will be very happy to get a big, fat, beautiful check and my name is on it."
Then, several days later, Mnuchin said he had thought of it.
"We did put the president's name on the check," Mnuchin said during an April 19interview with CNN. "That was my idea. He is the president, and I think it's a terrific symbol to the American public."
