Donald Trump’s name will be printed on the $1,200 (£960) coronavirus relief payments being sent to millions of Americans — potentially delaying their arrival for several days, according to officials.

The “unprecedented” decision by the US Treasury Department, reported by The Washington Post, has been seen as an attempt by the president to take personal credit for the stimulus.

It follows claims that Mr Trump wanted his signature to appear on the Inland Revenue Service paper cheques, which would normally bear the mark of a civil servant.

The president is not a legally permitted signatory, so instead the economic impact payments will show “President Donald J. Trump” in the memo line on the left side.

As a result “the team, working from home, is now racing to implement a programming change that will likely lead to a delay in issuing the first batch of paper checks”, the Post reported.

The US Treasury denied the payments would be delayed and insisted in a statement that they “are scheduled to go out on time and exactly as planned”.

“In fact, we expect the first checks to be in the mail early next week which is well in advance of initial estimates,” a spokesperson added.

The relief payments, which are part of a $2.2trn stimulus package authorised by Donald Trump last month, are now due to be sent off for printing on Thursday, although most Americans will receive the money by direct deposit into their bank accounts.

It comes after the International Monetary Fund predicted the “Great Lockdown” would cause the worst economic slump since the Great Depression of the 1920s.

But with the US recording more than 26,000 Covid-19 deaths so far, the addition of Trump’s name — since confirmed by NBC News — received widespread criticism.

“Don’t his checks often bounce?”, asked former national news anchor Dan Rather, while film executive Franklin Leonard responded: “They should put his name on the body bags too”.

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The former director of the US Office of Government Ethics, Walter Schaub, said: “Where you see the dying and suffering of your fellow Americans, Donald Trump sees another opportunity to promote himself — and, by extension, his re-election campaign. Corruption, you see, has its visionaries.”

Democrat congressman Ted Lieu tweeted: “’I am so happy my stimulus check is delayed in order for @realDonaldTrump to stick his name on it’ said no one ever.”