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US elections: 9 things President Donald Trump would do according to him

He would 'discourage Chinese adventurism' overseas and scrap Obamacare

Jess Staufenberg
Thursday 03 March 2016 11:57 GMT
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Donald Trump: What are his actual policies?

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After winning more than a third of the Republican vote across seven states on so-called Super Tuesday, Donald Trump's hopes for the White House are fast becoming more like workable plans.

But while everyone has heard of his pledge to not let any Muslim person into the country, and to build a wall between Mexico and the US and "make Mexico pay for it", his policies across the board of tax, education and trade are less well known.

This is a major criticism levelled at him recently by his own party, with runner-up Marco Rubio accusing Mr Trump of being a "con artist" – filled with populist rhetoric but light on concrete policy.

So what are the Presidential contender's less well publicised policies? Reuters has reviewed Mr Trump's website, speeches, debates and televised interviews to compile his likely manifesto on everything from trade to healthcare.

1. Torture is back on the table

A detainee is escorted by military police at Camp 4 of the maximum security prison Camp Delta at Guantanamo Naval Base, 26 August 2004
A detainee is escorted by military police at Camp 4 of the maximum security prison Camp Delta at Guantanamo Naval Base, 26 August 2004 (Getty)

The presidential hopeful has vowed to bring back waterboarding, an interrogation technique which has been banned as torture in the US. It simulates drowning.

He has promised to bring in other forms of toruture that are "a hell of a lot worse" than waterboarding, too.

2. Gulf states will be made to pay for a "safe zone" for Syrians in the Middle East

A refugee camp near the Syrian-Turkish border
A refugee camp near the Syrian-Turkish border (AFP/Getty)

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 Isis before addressing President Bashar al-Assad's future, saying: "We have to do one thing at a time."

3. Pharmaceuticals companies should be afraid

Mr Trump has claimed he could save the government $300 billion by negotiating better prices with drug companies, interestingly.

He has not said exactly how.

4. Corporate tax would be reduced to 15 per cent instead of 35 per cent

The 'billionaires club' is said to be the rarest in the world, with less than 2,000 people
The 'billionaires club' is said to be the rarest in the world, with less than 2,000 people (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Mr Trump would cut corporate tax by more than half. He would also reduce the number of tax brackets to four, instead of seven, and only allow a top marginal tax rate of 25 per cent.

While he said the plan is fully worked out, the Tax Foundation, an independent policy research group, has said it would cost more than $10 trillion over the next decade.

5. No one would be "ripping off" the US

Mr Trump claims he would let countries know that it does not pay to snub US exports, or move out of the country and try to sell exports back into it.

So he intends, for example, to place a 35 per cent tarrif on one company that makes air conditioners which decided to move to Mexico instead of being in the US.

He wants to do the same to Ford Motor Corp, for the same reason but because of motor vehicles this time.

And he would designate China a "currency manipulator" and put duties on its exports – as well chase up a World Trade Orgnisation cause looking at the Chinese government subsidising exporters.

He has also complained that Japan, Vietnam and India are keeping out some US exports.

6. The Education Department would be cut

A teacher teaching in a classroom.
A teacher teaching in a classroom. (Pierre Andrieu/Getty)

The man who recently said he "loved the poorly educated because we're smart and we're loyal" wants to try to reduce the country's £19 trillion deficit with cuts to education.

He would cut the Environmental Protection Agency for the same reason.

7. Obamacare is out

Senior citizens and low income Americans would still get Medicaid and Medicare. Older people would also retain Social Security retirement benefits.

But the rest of the Affordable Care Act would be out, with a health savings account system being put in place instead.

Yet he would still make insurers give coverage to people with preexisting medical conditions, which was a central tenet of Obamacare.

8. Not even a green card will help you get work in the US

Mr Trump would end "birthright citizenship" for children born in the United States to illegal immigrants – and deport the 11 million undocumented people living in America.

This is despite the controversy over his reported use of illegal Polish workers with no social security or regular pay cheques when constructing Trump Tower more than 30 years ago.

He would also "pause" new green cards and make employers offer jobs to US workers first.

9. The Chinese had better watch out

A Hawk surface-to-air missile is launched during military maneuvers at an undisclosed location in Iran on November 13, 2012.
A Hawk surface-to-air missile is launched during military maneuvers at an undisclosed location in Iran on November 13, 2012. (AFP/Getty Images)

Mr Trump would apparently increase the size of the US military to make it "so strong, so powerful that nobody's going to mess with us."

To that end, he would boost the US military presence in the East and South China seas to "discourage Chinese adventurism," according to his website.

There are 250 days, or 35 weeks, to the presidential election yet to go.

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