Donald Trump Sharpens His Economic Message

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With his third presidential campaign struggling to gain traction, former U.S. president Donald Trump is taking a page out of multi-billionaire Elon Musk‘s book.

According to reporters Alex Leary and Richard Rubin of The Wall Street Journal, Trump will lay out a series of economic proposals this week – including a corporate tax cut and the introduction of a “government efficiency commission” touted by the world’s richest man.

The formation of such a commission was proposed by Musk during a recent interview with Trump as a way to combat runaway inflation. According to Trump, the panel would undertake “a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government” and make “recommendations for drastic reform.”

Would Musk be tapped to serve on the commission? Or… lead it?

“I look forward to serving America if the opportunity arises,” Musk wrote on his X platform. “No pay, no title, no recognition is needed.”

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As I have written extensively this year (including here and here), America’s financial situation has become more untenable than ever. According to the latest report (.pdf) from the U.S. Treasury, receipts have totaled nearly $4.1 trillion with outlays of $5.6 trillion – for a deficit of $1.5 trillion. Meanwhile, interest payments on our ballooning $35.28 trillion national debt are already at $763 billion this year – and escalating.

What could an efficiency commission do to eat into this unsustainable escalation? Especially seeing as so much of the red ink is tied to entitlements?

Well, for starters, in April of this year the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimated that the federal government was losing anywhere between $233 billion and $521 billion annually in fraud between 2018 and 2022. All told, that’s anywhere between $1.16 trillion and $2.6 trillion in fraud over a five-year period.

“Given the scope of this problem, a government-wide approach is required to address it,” the agency noted.

Ya think?

Eliminating fraud – and identifying waste, duplication and inefficiencies in the administration of core government functions – would certainly be a tremendously beneficial undertaking. Another important undertaking? Identifying and eliminating unnecessary spending.

If Trump wants to turn over these responsibilities to a private sector whiz like Musk, only positives are likely to come from that delegation. Most Americans would be likely to trust such a panel infinitely more than they would trust the U.S. congress to handle such an audit.

As for Trump’s other proposals, he is proposing to cut the corporate tax rate to fifteen percent – but only for companies which manufacture their products in America using American workers.

“If you outsource, offshore or replace American workers you are not eligible for any of these benefits – in fact, you will pay a tariff,” Trump said.

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He also promised to declare a national emergency on rising energy costs, vowing to eliminate “every bureaucratic hurdle” and to “issue rapid approvals for new drilling, new pipelines, new refineries, and new power plants and reactors.”

Prior to unveiling his latest proposals, Trump had offered only gimmicks on the tax front. Well, that and perpetuating the status quo via an extension of the modest cuts he signed into law in 2017 after vowing massive middle class tax relief during his first run for the White House.

To be clear: I am not saying Kamala Harris would be any better on fiscal issues. She wouldn’t. She would likely be exponentially worse. Hell, she’s part of an administration that has been exponentially worse – and she has vowed to not only roll back Trump’s 2017 tax cuts but raise the corporate tax to 28 percent if she is elected. Harris has also proposed communist price controls – which in addition to being anathema to a free market have never worked anywhere they’ve been implemented.

Still, the fact remains Trump failed to make good on his economic promises the first go-round… which makes it harder to take him at his word this go-round (no matter what he proposes).

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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