Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who scored major victories in a series of nominating contests, has been criticised by the GOP establishment and rival politicians for being vague on policy specifics and heavy on rhetoric.
Here is a closer look at what Trump has said he would do on trade, taxes, the economy, immigration, healthcare and defence should he become the nominee and win the November 8 election. The policies are drawn from a review of his website, stump speeches, debates and town halls, and televised interviews--
Trade
Trump has complained that China, Japan, Mexico, Vietnam and India are “ripping us off” by devaluing their currencies and keeping out some US exports. He would not sign the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact and would renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) with Mexico and Canada. He would designate China a currency manipulator and impose countervailing duties on its exports. He also wants to pursue a World Trade Organisation case on Chinese government programmes that subsidise exporters. Trump has said he would put activist investor Carl Icahn in charge of negotiating a better trade relationship with China.
Taxes
Trump has pledged to cut and simplify taxes. Individuals making less than $25,000 per year and married filers earning less than $50,000 would not pay income tax. There would be three other brackets, down from seven currently, with a top marginal income tax rate of 25%, and a top rate for long-term capital gains and dividends of 20%. Charitable giving and mortgage interest deductions would remain unchanged. Other deductions would be trimmed in the highest tax brackets. He would eliminate the alternative minimum tax, the estate tax, and the carried interest tax break that allows investment fund managers to treat income as capital gains. The corporate tax rate would be cut to 15%, down from the current level of 35%. He would phase in a “reasonable cap” on deductions for business interest expenses and would cut other corporate loopholes. Trump would impose a one-time 10% “deemed repatriation” tax on deferred corporate overseas profits and would end deferral of income from foreign subsidiaries. The Tax Foundation, an independent policy research group, has said Trump’s plan would cost more than $10tn over the next decade.
Economy
Trump has pledged to get rid of the $19tn deficit by boosting jobs, and cutting government waste, but he has not released a formal policy paper on how he would do this. He has said he would not cut the Medicare and Medicaid health care programmes for senior citizens and low income Americans, nor Social Security retirement benefits. He would cut the Education Department and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Immigration
Trump has promised to build a high wall at the southern border to keep out illegal immigrants that he has said would cost $10bn to $12 bn. Mexico would pay for the wall or face consequences, his campaign said. Trump would “impound” remittance payments to Mexico from undocumented workers, and increase visa and border crossing fees for Mexican workers. Applying tariffs on Mexican goods and cutting foreign aid are also “options,” his campaign has said on his website. He would deport the 11m undocumented people living in America and end “birthright citizenship” for children born in the US to illegal immigrants. He has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US and would not allow refugees from Syria. Trump would triple the number of border agents and require all businesses to use the federal database to ensure employees are in the country legally. Trump’s campaign has also said he would “pause” new green cards and require employers to hire American workers first.
Health care
Trump has said he would repeal the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, and replace it with a system of health savings accounts. He would still require insurers to provide coverage to people with preexisting medical conditions, a key feature of Obamacare. He would move to allow insurance companies to sell plans across state lines to spur competition. Trump has said he could save the government $300bn by negotiating better prices with drug companies.
Dae’sh
Trump has promised to “knock out” Dae’sh quickly and said he is open to working with Russia to do so. He has said he would “bomb the oil” that helps finance the insurgent group and stop the “back channels of banking” used by the group. He has vowed to bring back the use of waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning and has been banned as torture under US law. He said he also supports other, unspecified techniques “a hell of a lot worse” than waterboarding. He would “take out” the family members of Dae’sh militants and would like to shut down “areas” of the Internet to try to stop the group from recruiting members. He wants to build a “safe zone” for Syrian refugees in Syria. But Gulf states would have to pay for it. He has said the US should first deal with Dae’sh before addressing President Bashar al-Assad’s future, saying “We have to do one thing at a time.”
Defence
Trump has said he would increase the size and power of the US military to make it “so strong, so powerful that nobody’s going to mess with us.” He says too much money is wasted buying equipment the military does not want. He wants Japan, Germany, South Korea and Saudi Arabia to bear more of the cost of military aid provided by the US. “We can no longer defend all of these countries,” he said, citing the deficit.