As the US President odds fall in favour of his rival Joe Biden, President Donald Trump might find himself struggling to remain in the White House for another term. In an attempt to claw back some support, Trump has tried to be clear on his views and future plans, should he be re-elected.
Want to know more? Read on as we discuss and highlight some of Trump’s policies on the key issues of today.
Jobs & Finance
As the coronavirus pandemic leaves the economy looking a little worse for wear, Trump has come forward with a plan to bring it back to full capacity. Prior to the emergence of the virus, President Trump has long since campaigned to put “America First” by pushing to bring more job opportunities and manufacturing back to the US. When campaigning for this first term, Trump had promised his public that he’d make huge tax cuts for working Americans, lower the corporate tax rate and revive the American manufacturing industry. So far, he’s only delivered on some of those, namely adding more than 480,000 manufacturing jobs to the US, whilst putting off related policies such as tariffs.
Ahead of the 2020 US election, Trump has predicted with a degree of certainty that the economy will bounce back immediately after the pandemic has dissolved – although critics have argued that the President’s response to Covid-19 has already caused long-term damage to the economy.
Trading
Trump maintains a hard line on trading with China, maintaining a policy to protect local US manufacturers from foreign competition. With this, there’s been an ongoing trade war with China, which has raised border taxes on close to $500b of all annual trade, as well as this year’s “phase one” deal between the two nations seeing the majority of tariffs remaining in place.
In August, Trump announced that he planned to offer tax credits to US firms, in an attempt to entice them to move factories out of China, insisting that: “we [America] will end our reliance on China”.
Immigration
A promise to curb US immigration levels has arguably been the backbone of Trump’s political career. And, as he seeks a re-election, the President has promised to continue construction of the infamous border wall that was promised on the US-Mexico border, having only secured funding for 445 miles of the 722-mile barrier so far.
Trump has also made plans to eliminate all chain migration – referring to people who pass immigration into the US purely based on having family ties already in the country. Instead, he proposes that immigration is operated with a “merit-based” entry system, based on qualifications and what an individual can offer.
Trump has made attempts to dissolve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which was originally put in place to protect over 650,000 young people who entered the US without documents as children. The action was unrealised however, as the Supreme Court ruled against it this summer.
Climate Change
As soon as Donald Trump took his place in office, he actively removed hundreds of environmental protections, including the limiting of carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and vehicles, and the protection of federal waterways across the US. These somewhat destructive decisions fulfilled promises that were made during his 2016 campaign.
The President has also begun a withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, due to the deal putting the country at a disadvantage to “the exclusive benefit of other countries”. This won’t come into formal effect until after November’s election, should Trump serve a second term.
Trump’s latest climate-based move has been to approve oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which has previously been off-limits for decades.