President Trump’s name will appear on the economic stimulus cheques that will be mailed to millions of Americans beginning next month, the treasury department confirmed on Tuesday.

The decision to have Trump’s name on the cheques, a break in protocol, was made by the department after Trump suggested the idea to Steven Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, according to a department official.

The President’s name will appear in the “memo” section of the cheque because Trump is not legally authorised to sign such disbursements.

A department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, denied that the decision would delay the disbursement of the cheques and said that they would be mailed beginning next week. The decision about the President’s name was first reported by The Washington Post.

But many Americans may not see the President’s name. Those who are eligible for stimulus payments and have provided their banking information to the Internal Revenue Service will receive the money through direct deposit.

Representatives for the IRS and the White House referred questions to the treasury department.

Treasury and IRS officials briefed House Democrats about the economic stimulus payments this month and said that paper cheques would be issued at a rate of about five million per week, beginning the week of May 4, for up to 20 weeks. A memo that House Democrats drafted after the briefing made no mention of Trump’s name appearing on the paper cheques

Erin Hatch, a spokeswoman for the House Ways and Means Committee Democrats, said that lawmakers were not made aware of the plan.

“The committee was not consulted about this,” she said, “and we do not want the cheques to be delayed for a second to add the signature.”

Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, criticised the Trump administration’s move to include the President’s name on the relief money.

“Donald Trump is further delaying cash payments to millions of Americans struggling to pay the rent and put food on the table to feed his ego,” Wyden said. “Only this President would try to make a pandemic and economic catastrophe all about him.”

US retail sales

US retail sales suffered a record drop in March as mandatory business closures to control the spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak depressed demand for a range of goods, setting up consumer spending for its worst decline in decades.

The report on Wednesday came as millions of Americans have been thrown out of work, and strengthened economists’ conviction that the economy is in deep recession.

States and local governments have issued “stay-at-home” or “shelter-in-place” orders affecting more than 90 per cent of Americans.