Time to take a look at what PRESIDENT TRUMP would do

Presidential candidate Donald Trump, who is closing in on the Republican nomination after scoring a major victory in a series of Super Tuesday nominating contests, has been criticised by some in his party 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 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. Icahn has said he is happy to advise Trump, but would not seek a formal position if Trump were elected.

Trump has said he would slap 35 per cent tariffs on air-conditioners made by United Technologies Corp’s Carrier in Mexico after the company decided to move production there from Indiana, and on Ford Motor Corp vehicles made in Mexico that are sold in the United States.

 

Economy

Trump has pledged to get rid of the $19 trillion 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 healthcare programmes for senior citizens and low income Americans, nor Social Security retirement benefits.

He would cut the Education Department and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Healthcare

 

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 pre-existing 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 $300 billion by negotiating better prices with drug companies.

Islamic State

Trump has promised to “knock out” Islamic State 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 Islamic State 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 United States should first deal with Islamic State before addressing President Bashar al-Assad’s future, saying “We have to do one thing at a time.”

He has questioned whether the United States should back opposition groups in Syria, saying “we have no idea who they are.”

 

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 United States. “We can no longer defend all of these countries,” he said, citing the deficit.

Trump would boost the US military presence in the East and South China seas to “discourage Chinese adventurism”, according to his website.