Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump introduced his most detailed policy plan yet on Monday at the Detroit Economic Club, in a speech that was ostensibly targeted toward the working class but mostly outlined benefits for the wealthy.
The speech was also widely panned for lacking substance: New York Magazine editor Annie Lowrey commented on CNN that “it was self-contradictory word salad,” adding that “there was just not much detail here.”
Presumably channeling the advice of an economics policy team comprised of wealthy white men over age 50—five out of 13 are named “Steve”—Trump announced a hodgepodge of economic reforms that he promised would enrich the working class and “make America grow again.”
“I want to jumpstart America and it can be done,” Trump said, “and it won’t even be that hard.”
“How are we supposed to raise our families without good jobs? Is that what you call winning?”
—Jacquie Maxwell, Grosse Pointe Woods auto worker
The policies proposed would benefit America’s wealthiest. The real estate mogul denounced “radical regulations,” promised to slash taxes for corporations and the top tax brackets, and vowed to dismantle the estate tax.
Trump also “seeks to reverse much of the Obama administration’s climate-change and energy agenda by defending the coal industry, rescinding environmental rules, and asking TransCanada to renew its Keystone pipeline permit application if he’s elected,” the Financial Post observes.
In addition, Trump said he would “rewrite” trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), as Reuters reports.
“Trade has big benefits, and I am in favor of trade,” Trump said, as the New York Times notes. “Isolation is not an option, only great and well-crafted trade deals are.”
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