Donald Trump on the issues, 2016

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See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016

This page highlights where Donald Trump stands on key policy issues. Use the table of contents on the left-hand side of the screen to navigate to specific policy areas.

The sections below include Trump's most recent public comments. For more information on the topics, please see the links listed at the top of each subject.

Economic and fiscal

Taxes

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Taxes

• Trump announced a revised tax plan on August 8, 2016. His first tax plan, announced on September 28, 2015, would have reduced the highest individual income tax rate from 39.6 percent to 25 percent. The revised plan sets the top individual income tax rate at 33 percent. The new plan reduces the number of income tax brackets from seven to three: 12 percent, 25 percent, and 33 percent. Trump had previously proposed income tax brackets set at 10 percent, 20 percent, and 25 percent. A report by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget showed that Trump's first tax plan would have cost $9.25 trillion over a decade. According to CNN, Trump's revised tax plan aligns with House Speaker Paul Ryan's policy agenda.

• Trump gave an economic policy speech in Detroit on August 8, 2016, where he unveiled several new proposals, including reducing the number of tax brackets from seven to three. He also proposed making childcare costs tax-deductible, placing a moratorium on new federal agency regulations, ending the death tax, renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, and renewing the Keystone XL pipeline project.

• Trump announced a new tax proposal on August 8, 2016, that would allow parents to deduct the average cost of childcare expenses. “We don’t want it to be an economic disadvantage to have children,” an aide said, according to Reuters. Trump did not provide specifics on how he would calculate average childcare expenses, what expenses would be eligible, or what costs the federal government would incur under the plan. Trump said plan details are forthcoming.

• Politico reported on May 11, 2016, that Trump’s presidential campaign reached out to CNBC host Larry Kudlow and Heritage Foundation analyst Stephen Moore to consult on how to revise Trump’s tax platform and reduce the cost. According to Kudlow, the new plan he devised would increase the federal deficit by $3.8 trillion rather than $10 trillion, but Trump has not yet approved the revisions.

• In an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd which aired on May 8, 2016,Trump discussed tax policy. He said, "The thing I'm going to do is make sure the middle class gets good tax breaks. Because they have been absolutely shunned. The other thing, I'm going to fight very hard for business. For the wealthy, I think, frankly, it's going to go up. And you know what, it really should go up. … But the middle class has to be protected. The rich is probably going to end up paying more. And business might have to pay a little bit more [than his proposal due to negotiations with Democrats]. But we're giving a massive business tax cut.”

• In an interview on January 24, 2016, Donald Trump said that he tries to minimize his personal taxes because he does not approve of how the government spends tax dollars. "I try to pay as little tax as possible, because I hate what they do with my tax money. I hate the way they spend our money, the way they give it to Iraq, the way they give it to Iran,” said Trump.

• The Tax Policy Center released its analysis Trump’s tax platform on December 22, 2015. According to the nonpartisan think tank, “His proposal would cut taxes at all income levels, although the largest benefits, in dollar and percentage terms, would go to the highest-income households. The plan would reduce federal revenues by $9.5 trillion over its first decade before accounting for added interest costs or considering macroeconomic feedback effects. The plan would improve incentives to work, save, and invest. However, unless it is accompanied by very large spending cuts, it could increase the national debt by nearly 80 percent of gross domestic product by 2036, offsetting some or all of the incentive effects of the tax cuts.”

• In a statement on November 23, 2015, Trump said it was “disgusting” that the pharmaceutical firm Pfizer would relocate its headquarters overseas as part of a merger with Allergan. "The fact that Pfizer is leaving our country with a tremendous loss of jobs is disgusting,” he said. The move is known as a tax inversion and occurs when an American-based company merges with a foreign firm and the new combined company sets up headquarters abroad for the purposes of lowering its U.S. tax bill.

• Trump unveiled his tax policy on September 28, 2015. According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump’s platform would remove the federal income tax for individuals earning less than $25,000 and couples earning less than $50,000, reduce the highest individual income tax rate from 39.6 percent to 25 percent, and cut corporate taxes to no higher than 15 percent.

• During September 2015, the Center for Tax Justice claimed Trump's tax plan would reduce tax revenues by $9 trillion over 10 years. the Tax Foundation similarly estimated his plan would cost $10 trillion over the same time period. Trump's campaign maintained that the plan was designed to be "revenue neutral."

• In an interview with Bloomberg on August 26, 2015, Trump said he would “simplify” the tax code. “I would take carried interest out, and I would let people making hundreds of millions of dollars-a-year pay some tax, because right now they are paying very little tax and I think it's outrageous. I want to lower taxes for the middle class,” Trump said.

• Appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation on August 23, 2015, Trump said hedge fund managers were “getting away with murder” and should pay higher taxes. “They're paying nothing and it's ridiculous. I want to save the middle class. The hedge fund guys didn't build this country. These are guys that shift paper around and they get lucky,” Trump said.

• In a June 2015 interview on MSNBC, Trump said he would nominate Carl Icahn, Henry Kravis or Jack Welch to the office of Secretary of the Treasury.

• In his 2011 book, Time to Get Tough, Trump outlined a five-part tax plan that defined four income tax brackets determining whether you pay 1 percent, 5 percent, 10 percent or 15 percent of your income. The plan also called for the end of the estate tax, a lower tax on capital gains and dividends, the elimination of corporate taxes and a 20 percent import tax.

• Trump called a flat tax "unfair to the poor" and "unfair to workers" in his 2000 book, The America We Deserve. Trump stated, "Only the wealthy would reap a windfall, because a flat tax would allow them to cash in interest payments and capital gains without paying personal income taxes."

• In 1999, Trump proposed a one-time net worth tax of 14.25 percent on individuals and trusts worth more than $10 million. He asserted that this tax would raised enough money to wipe out the national debt, which at the time was $5.66 trillion.

Banking policy

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Banking policy

• In an interview on CNBC on September 12, 2016, Trump said that Janet Yellen, the chair of the Federal Reserve, has created a “false stock market” by keeping interest rates low to bolster Barack Obama’s legacy. Regarding interest rates, he said, “Well it's staying at zero because she's obviously political, and she's doing what Obama wants her to do … Any increase at all will be a very, very small increase because they want to keep the market up so Obama goes out and let the new guy ... raise interest rates ... and watch what happens in the stock market.”

• Trump said his comments in a CNBC interview on May 6, 2016, about defaulting on debt were mischaracterized. “I said if we can buy back government debt at a discount, in other words, if interest rates go up and we can buy bonds back at a discount – if we are liquid enough as a country, we should do that. In other words, we can buy back debt at a discount,” Trump said. He added that the U.S. will never have to default on debt “because you print the money.”

• During an interview with Fortune on April 19, 2016, Donald Trump praised Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, but said he supports “proposals that would take power away from the Fed, and allow Congress to audit the U.S. central bank’s decision making.” When asked about Yellen, Trump said, “I think she’s [Janet Yellen] done a serviceable job. I don’t want to comment on reappointment, but I would be more inclined to put other people in.” Trump also commented on low-interest rates, saying, “The best thing we have going for us is that interest rates are so low. There are lots of good things that could be done that aren’t being done, amazingly. … People think the Fed should be raising interest rates. If rates are 3% or 4% or whatever, you start adding that kind of number to an already reasonably crippled economy in terms of what we produce, that number is a very scary number.”

Fact check/Do all the Republican presidential candidates support the repeal of Dodd-Frank?

In a Facebook post Elizabeth Warren wrote, “the Republicans running for President claim they will repeal all the new financial regulations.” We argue that Warren’s post oversimplified things. While six candidates have stated unequivocally that they would support repealing the law, the evidence suggests that four others may only be interested in repealing parts of it, and the stance of one candidate was unclear. Read Ballotpedia's fact check »

• In October 2015, Trump said the Dodd-Frank Act was "terrible" and that he would "absolutely" repeal the law. "Under Dodd-Frank, the regulators are running the banks. The bankers are petrified of the regulators. And the problem is that the banks aren’t loaning money to people who will create jobs," Trump said.

• In an interview with Bloomberg's Mark Halperin in August 2015, Trump said he appreciated the low interest rates set by the Federal Reserve as a businessman, but expressed concern for the "bubble" they could create. "I like low interest rates. From the country’s standpoint, I’m just not sure it’s a very good thing, because I really do believe we’re creating a bubble." When asked if he approved of the Volcker Rule, Trump said, "Well I’m not sure if [Paul Volcker] likes it, but if he’s — you know what, honestly, Mark, if he’s happy, I’m happy. He was a terrific guy. I’ve met him a few times. And I thought he was terrific. But I think his policy and his demeanor — there was something very solid about him. His demeanor were [sic] very good."

Government regulations

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Government regulations

• Donald Trump said he wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act with something he dubbed "Donaldcare," Breitbart reported September 15, 2015. “We’re going to get rid of Obamacare,” Trump told Breitbart after a giving a speech to Veterans for a Strong America—which just endorsed his candidacy for the White House. “We’re going to something really spectacular with that [healthcare], with immigration, with the armed forces,” Trump said.

• On September 13, 2015, Trump called rising CEO salaries “a total and complete joke.” He said, "It's very hard if you have a free enterprise system to do anything about that. You know the boards of companies are supposed to do it but I know companies very well and the CEO puts in all his friends...and they get whatever they want you know because their friends love sitting on the board. That's the system that we have and it's a shame and it’s disgraceful.”

• When endorsing Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election, Trump commented in an op-ed in The Washington Times, "Right now, government regulations cost us annually $1.75 trillion. They constitute a stealth tax that is larger than the amount the Internal Revenue Service collects every year from corporations and individuals combined. In just three years, Mr. Obama has added hugely to the annual regulatory bill." Trump supported a candidate that would "pare that back and make sure every single regulation has benefits that outweigh costs and that they don’t kill U.S. jobs."

• In his 2000 book, The America We Deserve, Trump wrote, "Most of us think the American Dream is a birthright, but without constant care and vigilance, it can and will be whittled down to nothing. The threatening agent is not some foreign power, but people who don’t understand the proper relationship between the public and private arenas. In other words, the greatest threat to the American Dream is the idea that dreamers need close government scrutiny and control. Job one for us is to make sure the public sector does a limited job, and no more."

International trade

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/International trade

• During a Meet the Press interview on July 24, 2016, Trump discussed trade, saying that he would “impose tariffs — in the range of 15 percent to 35 percent — on companies like Indiana-based Carrier, which is moving its operations to Mexico,” according to The Hill. Trump said, “If they're going to fire all their people, move their plant to Mexico, build air conditioners, and think they're going to sell those air conditioners to the United States, there's going to be a tax.” Todd then said that “the import-tariff plan wouldn't pass muster at the WTO.” Trump replied, “Then we're going to renegotiate or we're going to pull out. These trade deals are a disaster. You know, the World Trade Organization is a disaster.”

• In a speech delivered on June 28, 2016, Donald Trump explained how he would change America’s “failed trade policy” by rejecting the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, appointing the best trade negotiators, renegotiating and potentially withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and labeling China a currency manipulator. In his prepared speech, titled “Declaring American Economic Independence,” Trump warned his supporters that “Hillary Clinton, and her campaign of fear, will try to spread the lie that these actions will start a trade war. She has it completely backwards. Hillary Clinton unleashed a trade war against the American worker when she supported one terrible trade deal after another – from NAFTA to China to South Korea. A Trump Administration will end that war by getting a fair deal for the American people. The era of economic surrender will finally be over. A new era of prosperity will finally begin. America will be independent once more.”

• Donald Trump said on February 18, 2016, that he would send cease and desist letters to China, Mexico and other U.S. trade partners for “ripping us off.” He added, “And when I say cease-and-desist orders, maybe it'd be equivalent. Maybe I'll do it with my mouth."

• Trump advocated for fair trade and called NAFTA “a disaster” on September 27, 2015. “We will either renegotiate it or we will break it because you know every agreement has an end,” said Trump.

• In a statement released to The Daily Caller in May 2015, Trump criticized the Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying, "Yet again, the politicians are allowing our president to reinforce the lack of respect countries like China and Japan now have for the United States. They will devalue their currency, exploit our trade agreements, continue to destroy our economy and put Americans out of work. Politicians are all talk and no action. Instead of fast tracking TPP, Congress should pass legislation that holds China and Japan accountable for currency manipulation. This would send a message to the world that there are consequences for cheating the United States."

• Trump released a radio ad in May 2015 recommending Congress reject trade promotion authority. Trump said, "I learned a long time ago, a bad deal is far worse than no deal at all. And the Obama Trans-Pacific Partnership and fast track are a bad, bad deal for American businesses, for workers, for taxpayers. It’s a huge set of hand outs for a few insiders that don’t even care about our great, great America. Congress has to stand up and defeat this raw power grab. With the dismal Obama track record, why should a Republican Congress give him more power and gut the Constitution to do it? It’s just crazy. Tell your congressmen and senators, vote no on fast track."

• On April 22, 2015, Trump tweeted, "The Trans-Pacific Partnership is an attack on America's business. It does not stop Japan's currency manipulation. This is a bad deal."

• At the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2011, Trump described himself as "a fair trade believer" who "loves open markets."

Trans-Pacific Partnership

• After Hillary Clinton announced Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) as her vice president, Trump tweeted the following on July 23, 2016: "Tim Kaine has been praising the Trans Pacific Partnership and has been pushing hard to get it approved. Job killer!" Washington Examiner reported that "Kaine assured Clinton before being picked for the VP spot that he opposes the TPP in its current form."

• On June 30, 2016, Trump said that the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP) "will make NAFTA, in my opinion, look like a baby. ... Trans-Pacific Partnership — it's over 5,000 pages long — every country that's in that partnership has studied every word, every comma, every sentence, every paragraph; our guys probably haven't even read it. This is the way we do business." Trump then criticized Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton for their involvement in past free trade deals, according to The Hill. Trump said, "Hillary Clinton understood and backed, and Bill Clinton certainly as the president, initiatives — they are a disaster, and now they want to go into TPP, Trans-Pacific Partnership. ... We have to get smart, folks."

• On June 28, 2016, Trump said, “The Trans-Pacific Partnership is another disaster done and pushed by special interests who want to rape our country — just a continuing rape of our country. It’s a harsh word, but it’s true.”

• In a speech titled "Declaring American Economic Independence," delivered on June 28, 2016, Trump criticized the TPP and Clinton for changing her stance on the trade deal. Trump said, "The TPP would be the death blow for American manufacturing. It would give up all of our economic leverage to an international commission that would put the interests of foreign countries above our own. It would further open our markets to aggressive currency cheaters. It would make it easier for our trading competitors to ship cheap subsidized goods into U.S. markets - while allowing foreign countries to continue putting barriers in front of our exports. The TPP would lower tariffs on foreign cars, while leaving in place the foreign practices that keep American cars from being sold overseas. The TPP even created a backdoor for China to supply car parts for automobiles made in Mexico. The agreement would also force American workers to compete directly against workers from Vietnam, one of the lowest wage countries on Earth. Not only will the TPP undermine our economy, but it will undermine our independence. The TPP creates a new international commission that makes decisions the American people can't veto. These commissions are great Hillary Clinton’s Wall Street funders who can spend vast amounts of money to influence the outcomes. It should be no surprise then that Hillary Clinton, according to Bloomberg, took a 'leading part in drafting the Trans-Pacific Partnership'. She praised or pushed the TPP on 45 separate occasions, and even called it the 'gold standard'. Hillary Clinton was totally for the TPP just a short while ago, but when she saw my stance, which is totally against, she was shamed into saying she would be against it too – but have no doubt, she will immediately approve it if it is put before her, guaranteed. She will do this just as she has betrayed American workers for Wall Street throughout her career. Here’s how it would go: she would make a small token change, declare the pact fixed, and ram it through. That’s why Hillary is now only saying she has problems with the TPP 'in its current form,' – ensuring that she can rush to embrace it again at her earliest opportunity. If the media doesn’t believe me, I have a challenge for you. Ask Hillary Clinton if she is willing to withdraw from the TPP her first day in office and unconditionally rule out its passage in any form. There is no way to 'fix' the TPP. We need bilateral trade deals. We do not need to enter into another massive international agreement that ties us up and binds us down."

• In an op-ed from March 14, 2016, Trump explained his opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP). He wrote, “The number of jobs and amount of wealth and income the United States have given way in so short a time is staggering, likely unprecedented. And the situation is about to get drastically worse if the Trans-Pacific Partnership is not stopped. One of the first casualties of the TPP will be America’s auto industry, and among the worst victims of this pact will be the people of Ohio. The TPP will send America’s remaining auto jobs to Japan. Yet, Gov. John Kasich, Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio have all promoted the Trans-Pacific Partnership — a mortal threat to American manufacturing. … TPP is the biggest betrayal in a long line of betrayals where politicians have sold out U.S. workers. America’s politicians — beholden to global corporate interests who profit from offshoring — have enabled jobs theft in every imaginable way. They have tolerated foreign trade cheating while enacting trade deals that encourage companies to shift production overseas.”

• During the Fox Business/Wall Street Journal Republican debate on November 10, 2015, Trump said that although he is a "free trader," he does not support the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP). Trump said, "The TPP is horrible deal. It is a deal that is going to lead to nothing but trouble. It’s a deal that was designed for China to come in, as they always do, through the back door and totally take advantage of everyone. It’s 5,600 pages long. So complex that nobodies [sic] read it. It’s like Obamacare; nobody ever read it. They passed it; nobody read it. And look at mess we have right now. And it will be repealed. But this is one of the worst trade deals. And I would, yes, rather not have it. With all of these countries, and all of the bad ones getting advantage and taking advantage of what the good ones would normally get, I’d rather make individual deals with individual countries. We will do much better. We lose a fortune on trade. The United States loses with everybody. We’re losing now over $500 billion in terms of imbalance with China, $75 billion a year imbalance with Japan. By the way, Mexico, $50 billion a year imbalance. So I must say, Gerard, I just think it’s a terrible deal. I love trade. I’m a free trader, 100 percent. But we need smart people making the deals, and we don’t have smart people making the deals."

• When asked if there were "particular parts of the deal that you think were badly negotiated," Trump replied, "Yes. Well, the currency manipulation they don’t discuss in the agreement, which is a disaster. If you look at the way China and India and almost everybody takes advantage of the United States — China in particular, because they’re so good. It’s the number-one abuser of this country. And if you look at the way they take advantage, it’s through currency manipulation. It’s not even discussed in the almost 6,000-page agreement. It’s not even discussed. And as you understand, I mean, you understand very well from the Wall Street Journal, currency manipulation is the single great weapon people have. They don’t even discuss it in this agreement. So I say, it’s a very bad deal, should not be approved. If it is approved, it will just be more bad trade deals, more loss of jobs for our country. We are losing jobs like nobody’s ever lost jobs before. I want to bring jobs back into this country."

• In an attempt to clarify the facts, Sen. Rand Paul said, "Hey, Gerard, you know, we might want to point out China is not part of this deal."

• In a statement to Breitbart on October 5, 2015, Trump questioned congressional support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. He asked, "Why are we striking trade agreements with countries we already have agreements with? Why is there no effort to make sure we have fair trade instead of ‘free’ trade that isn’t free to Americans? Why do we not have accompanying legislation that will punish countries that manipulate their currencies to seek unfair advantage in trade arrangements? Why has the Congress not addressed prohibitive corporate tax rates and trade agreements that continue to drain dollars and jobs from America’s shores?”

• On October 5, 2015, Trump criticized TPP in the following tweet:
  

  Donald Trump's tweet from October 5, 2015

Budgets

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Budgets

• Donald Trump accused the Federal Reserve of releasing false numbers to stimulate the economy in 2012. Trump warned against inflation and claimed "the stimulus many people would say is the worst thing that can happen."

• In 2012, Trump opposed Representative Paul Ryan's budget plan, calling it "catastrophic."

• In an interview on CNBC, Trump criticized negotiations in Congress to increase the debt ceiling in 2011, saying, "Eventually you have to balance the budget. This is a long way from balancing the budget. This is just a joke. This is a down payment at most."

Agricultural subsidies

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Agricultural subsidies

• On August 27, 2016, Trump spoke about agricultural policy at a campaign event in Iowa, saying, “Family farms are the backbone of this country. We are going to end the EPA intrusion into your family homes and your family farms. We are going to protect the Renewable Fuel Standard, eliminate job-killing regulations like the Waters of the U.S. rule, and provide desperately-needed tax relief. … We are going to end this war on the American farmer. That includes our plan to lower the tax rate on family farms down to 15 percent, and to stop the double-taxation of family farms at death – helping to ensure that the family farm tradition in Iowa continues to thrive and flourish.”

• In July 2016, Trump selected cattle farmer Charles Herbster to lead his agriculture and rural advisory committee. According to Herbster, a primary agricultural concern for the campaign is reducing regulation.

• Politico reported in May 2016 that "Trump endorses crop insurance, a top priority for farmers, and like House Speaker Paul Ryan, advocates separating the food stamp program from the farm bill, adding that he believes 'agriculture is not about food — it is about national security,' according to another campaign response. That idea is divisive among farm-state lawmakers because it threatens the urban-rural coalition that has won passage of the farm bill every five years."

• Speaking at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit on January 19, 2016, Trump expressed support for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), saying, "I will encourage Congress to be cautious in attempting to change any part of the RFS. Energy independence is a requirement if America is to become great again."

Federal assistance programs

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Federal assistance programs

• At the No Labels conference on October 12, 2015, Donald Trump said he and other ultra-wealthy Americans should “voluntarily” relinquish their Social Security benefits. “I have friends that are worth hundreds of millions and billions of dollars and get Social Security. They don’t even know the check comes in,” he said.

• While speaking at the Iowa Freedom Summit in January 2015, Trump said he would save Social Security. He stated, "We have to make our country rich again so we can do that, so we can save Social Security. Because I'm not a cutter. I'll probably be the only Republican that doesn't want to cut Social Security. I want to make the country rich so that Social Security can be afforded and Medicare and Medicaid. Get rid of the waste. Get rid of the fraud. But you deserve your Social Security."

• Trump suggested at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2013 that a Republican cannot win an election and substantially change Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security.

• In his 2011 book, Time to Get Tough, Trump discussed his position on several federal assistance and entitlement programs.

• Defending Social Security, Trump wrote, "It's not unreasonable for people who paid into a system for decades to expect to get their money's worth–that's not an 'entitlement,' that's honoring a deal. We as a society must also make an ironclad commitment to providing a safety net for those who can't make one for themselves. Social Security is here to stay. To be sure, we must reform it, root out the fraud, make it more efficient, and ensure that the program is solvent. Same goes for Medicare. Again, people have lived up to their end of the bargain and paid into the program in good faith. Of course they believe they're 'entitled' to receive the benefits they paid for–they are!"

• Trump criticized Medicare and disability insurance benefits for being rampant with fraud.

• Trump wrote, "The food stamp program was originally created as temporary assistance for families with momentary times of need. And it shouldn't be needed often. Thankfully, 96 percent of America's poor parents say their children never suffer even a day of hunger. But when half of food stamp recipients have been on the dole for nearly a decade, something is clearly wrong, and some of it has to do with fraud."

• Trump also praised the 1996 Welfare Reform Act's welfare-to-work measure in this book. Trump wrote, "To get your check, you had to prove that you were enrolled in job-training or trying to find work. But here's the rub: the 1996 Welfare Reform Act only dealt with one program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), not the other seventy-six welfare programs which, today, cost taxpayers more than $900 billion annually. We need to take a page from the 1996 reform and do the same for other welfare programs. Benefits should have strings attached to them. After all, if it's our money recipients are getting, we the people should have a say in how it's spent. The way forward is to do what we did with AFDC and attach welfare benefits to work. The Welfare Reform Act of 2011–proposed by Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, Tim Scott of South Carolina, and Scott Garrett of New Jersey–does just that."

Labor and employment

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Labor and employment

• On September 15, 2016, Trump revealed an economic plan which he said would create 25 million new jobs and grow the economy at an annual rate of at least 3.5 percent. Describing his plan in a speech before the Economic Club of New York as “the most pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-family plan put forth perhaps in the history of our country,” Trump said, “My economic plan rejects the cynicism that says our labor force will keep declining, that our jobs will keep leaving and that our economy can never grow as it did once before.” The plan includes reductions in non-defense spending, lower taxes, penalties for companies that move overseas, fewer environmental regulations, and a renegotiation of NAFTA.

• On September 13, 2016, Trump called for six weeks of paid maternity leave. He said, “our plan offers a crucial safety net for working mothers whose employers do not provide paid maternity leave. This solution will receive strong bipartisan support … And we will be completely self-financing.” Trump campaign officials told The Washington Post that paid maternity leave would be paid for by “savings achieved by eliminating fraud in the unemployment insurance program.”

• On July 27, 2016, Donald Trump said that he “would like to raise it [the federal minimum wage] to at least $10.” Trump also said that “states should really call the shots” on setting a minimum wage. According to The Wall Street Journal, “In calling for a federal wage increase to $10, Mr. Trump is putting himself more in line with President Barack Obama and other Democrats, including his opponent, Hillary Clinton.”

• New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on July 20, 2016, that Trump was considering requesting civil service laws be changed if he was elected president to make it easier to remove holdovers from the previous administration. “It’s called burrowing. You take them from the political appointee side into the civil service side, in order to try to set up ... roadblocks for your successor, kind of like when all the Clinton people took all the Ws off the keyboard when George Bush was coming into the White House,” Christie said.

Foreign affairs

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Foreign affairs

• Trump met with Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, in New York on September 26, 2016. Netanyahu was in the country for the United Nations General Assembly meeting. A statement from the Trump campaign said, “Mr. Trump recognized that Israel and its citizens have suffered far too long on the front lines of Islamic terrorism. He agreed with Prime Minister Netanyahu that the Israeli people want a just and lasting peace with their neighbors, but that peace will only come when the Palestinians renounce hatred and violence and accept Israel as a Jewish State.”

• On September 19, 2016, Trump met with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi during a special meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. According to a readout of the meeting released by the Trump campaign, Trump “thanked President el-Sisi and the Egyptian people for what they have done in defense of their country and for the betterment of the world over the last few years. He expressed great respect for Egypt’s history and the important leadership role it has played in the Middle East.” He also, “expressed to President el-Sisi his strong support for Egypt’s war on terrorism, and how under a Trump Administration, the United States of America will be a loyal friend, not simply an ally, that Egypt can count on in the days and years ahead.”

• Responding to a questionnaire from Scientific American on September 13, 2016, Trump said, “Space exploration has given so much to America, including tremendous pride in our scientific and engineering prowess. ... We should also seek global partners, because space is not the sole property of America. All humankind benefits from reaching into the stars.”

• At a "commander-in-chief" forum on NBC News on September 7, 2016, Trump discussed his views Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying, “[H]e does have an 82 percent approval rating, according to the different pollsters, who, by the way, some of them are based right here. … I think I’d be able to get along with him. … If he says great things about me, I’m going to say great things about him. I’ve already said, he is really very much of a leader. I mean, you can say, oh, isn’t that a terrible thing — the man has very strong control over a country. … Now, it’s a very different system, and I don’t happen to like the system. But certainly, in that system, he’s been a leader, far more than our president has been a leader.”

• Trump met with Mexico president Enrique Peña Nieto on August 31, 2016. The meeting was in private, but afterwards Trump and Peña Nieto held a brief press conference and took questions. Trump reiterated his opposition to NAFTA and illegal immigration as well as his support for strong immigration laws and border security, saying, “having a secure border is a sovereign right and mutually beneficial.” But Trump also commented on his personal relationship with Mexicans, his desire to keep jobs in the western hemisphere, and the United States’ relationship with Mexico.
  • Personal relationship with Mexicans and Mexican-Americans: “And I happen to have a tremendous feeling for Mexican Americans not only in terms of friendships, but in terms of the tremendous numbers that I employ in the United States and they are amazing people, amazing people. I have many friends, so many friends and so many friends coming to Mexico and in Mexico. I am proud to say how many people I employ.”
  • Jobs in the western hemisphere: “There are many improvements that could be made that would make both Mexico and the United States stronger and keep industry in our hemisphere. We have tremendous competition from China and from all over the world. Keep it in our hemisphere. Workers in both of our countries need a pay raise, very desperately. … When jobs leave Mexico, the U.S. or Central America and go over seas, it increases poverty and pressure on social services as well as pressures on cross border migration.”
  • U.S.-Mexico relations: “The United States and Mexico share a 2,000-mile border, a half a trillion dollars in annual trade and one million legal border crossings each and every day. We are united by our support for democracy, a great love for our people and the contributions of millions of Mexican Americans to the United States.”

• During an interview that aired on ABC News on July 31, 2016, Trump said that he was not concerned with Russian President Vladimir Putin entering Ukraine. “He’s not gonna go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anywhere you want.” When host George Stephanopoulos countered that Russia had already entered Ukraine, Trump said, “OK― well, he’s there in a certain way. But I’m not there. You have Obama there. And frankly, that whole part of the world is a mess under Obama with all the strength that you’re talking about and all of the power of NATO and all of this. In the meantime, he’s going away. He take ― takes Crimea.” He added that he heard that Crimeans “would rather be with Russia than where they were.”

• In an interview with The New York Times published on July 20, 2016, Trump “called into question whether, as president, he would automatically extend the security guarantees that give the 28 members of NATO the assurance that the full force of the United States military has their back. For example, asked about Russia’s threatening activities that have unnerved the small Baltic States that are among the more recent entrants into NATO, Mr. Trump said that if Russia attacked them, he would decide whether to come to their aid only after reviewing whether those nations ‘have fulfilled their obligations to us.’”
  • Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) rejected Trump’s proposal that NATO allies will only be defended by the United States if they have “fulfilled their obligations to us.” McConnell said, “NATO is the most important military alliance in world history. I want to reassure our NATO allies that if any of them.” He added, “I think he's [Trump] wrong on that. I don't think that view would be prevalent or held by anybody he might make secretary of state or secretary of defense."
  • During an interview with NBC host Chuck Todd on July 24, 2016, Trump said that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s comments that Trump’s questioning of NATO was a "rookie mistake” was "100 percent wrong.” Trump added, “Frankly it's sad. We have NATO, and we have many countries that aren't paying for what they're supposed to be paying, which is already too little, but they're not paying anyway. And we're giving them a free ride."

• On July 16, 2016, Donald Trump attributed the attempted coup in Turkey over the weekend to failed policies of the Obama administration. He said, “We’re seeing unrest in Turkey, a further demonstration of the failures of Obama-Clinton. You just have to look ― every single thing they’ve touched has turned to horrible, horrible, death-defying problems.”

• On June 24, 2016, Trump appeared in Turnberry, Scotland, to celebrate the reopening of his golf course and resort there. His trip came the day after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, sparking a major drop in the value of the pound. Trump highlighted the potential benefit of this plunge for businesses like his, saying, “Look if the pound goes down, they're gonna do more business. You know, when the pound goes down, more people are gonna come to Turnberry, frankly, and the pound has gone down, and let's see what the impact of that is." A protester at the event also attempted to pass out golf balls with swastikas on them. He said, “These are the new balls available from the clubhouse — part of the new Trump Turnberry range.”
  • The Clinton campaign released a national ad on June 25, 2016, criticizing Trump’s comments. "Every president is tested by world events but Donald Trump thinks about how he can profit from them," the ad’s narrator says.
  • “Clinton is trying to wash away her bad judgement call on BREXIT with big dollar ads. Disgraceful!” Trump responded in a tweet.

• In an interview on June 5, 2016, Trump appeared to reverse his position on Libya, saying that he would have supported a “surgical” strike to remove Muammar Qadhafi. During a debate in February, Trump had previously held, “We would be so much better off if Qadhafi would be in charge right now." Asked to explain this shift in policy, Trump said, “I wasn't for what happened. Look at the way — I mean look at with Benghazi and all of the problems that we've had. It was handled horribly. … I was never for strong intervention. I could have seen surgical where you take out Qadhafi and his group.”

• Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger disputed Trump’s assertion that he approved of his foreign policy approach. “On foreign policy, you identify many key problems. I do not generally agree with the solutions. One-shot outcomes are probably not possible,” Kissinger said of Trump on May 27, 2016.

• President Barack Obama (D) said on May 26, 2016, at a press conference in Japan that world leaders were concerned with Donald Trump’s candidacy. “They're rattled by him and for good reason. Because a lot of the proposals that he's made display either ignorance of world affairs or a cavalier attitude or an interest in getting tweets and headlines instead of actually thinking through what is required to keep America safe,” Obama said.

• Responding to Obama's critique, Trump said,"When you rattle someone, that's good."

• Trump was scheduled to meet with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on May 18, 2016, to discuss his foreign policy. According to The Washington Post, “Meeting with Kissinger has become a rite of passage for many ambitious Republicans, especially those who land on the party’s presidential ticket. Sarah Palin had a high-profile meeting with him in 2008 when she became the GOP vice-presidential nominee, seeking his counsel and association with his credentials.”

• London’s newly elected mayor, Sadiq Khan, who is the first Muslim to hold the office, criticized Trump’s plan to ban all Muslims from entering the country “until political leaders can ‘figure out what is going on’ with jihadist terrorism.” Kahn wrote on Twitter, “Trump’s ignorant view of Islam could make both our countries less safe. It risks alienating mainstream Muslims. London has proved him wrong.”

• Trump said on May 5, 2016, that he supported Britain leaving the European Union (EU). “I think the migration has been a horrible thing for Europe. A lot of that was pushed by the EU. I would say that they’re better off without it, personally, but I’m not making that as a recommendation. Just my feeling,” he said.

• On May 2, 2016, Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudry Nisar Ali Khan said in a statement that Trump “should learn to treat sovereign nations with respect” after he said in an interview last week that he would get Shakeel Afridi released “in two minutes” if he were president. Afridi has been in prison for five years since assisting the CIA in locating Osama bin Laden. “Pakistan is not a colony of the United States of America,” Khan said

• On April 27, 2016, Donald Trump delivered prepared remarks on foreign policy at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. He said that the overarching theme of his administration would be “America first,” criticized the Obama administration for a “list of humiliations” on the international stage, and made the following policy points:
  • On democracy in the Middle East, Trump said, “We went from mistakes in Iraq to Egypt to Libya, to President Obama’s line in the sand in Syria. Each of these actions have helped to throw the region into chaos and gave ISIS the space it needs to grow and prosper. Very bad. It all began with a dangerous idea that we could make western democracies out of countries that had no experience or interests in becoming a western democracy.”
  • On the financial responsibilities of America’s allies, Trump said, “Secondly, our allies are not paying their fair share, and I’ve been talking about this recently a lot. Our allies must contribute toward their financial, political, and human costs, have to do it, of our tremendous security burden. But many of them are simply not doing so. … In NATO, for instance, only 4 of 28 other member countries besides America, are spending the minimum required 2 percent of GDP on defense. … The countries we are defending must pay for the cost of this defense, and if not, the U.S. must be prepared to let these countries defend themselves. We have no choice.”
  • On preventing terrorism and defeating ISIS, Trump said, “We should work together with any nation in the region that is threatened by the rise of radical Islam. But this has to be a two-way street. They must also be good to us. … The struggle against radical Islam also takes place in our homeland. There are scores of recent migrants inside our borders charged with terrorism. … We must stop importing extremism through senseless immigration policies. … And then there’s ISIS. I have a simple message for them. Their days are numbered. I won’t tell them where and I won’t tell them how. We must … as a nation be more unpredictable. We are totally predictable. We tell everything. We’re sending troops. We tell them. We’re sending something else. We have a news conference. We have to be unpredictable. And we have to be unpredictable starting now. But they’re going to be gone. ISIS will be gone if I’m elected president. And they’ll be gone quickly. They will be gone very, very quickly.”
  • On increasing military spending, Trump said, “Secondly, we have to rebuild our military and our economy. The Russians and Chinese have rapidly expanded their military capability, but look at what’s happened to us. Our nuclear weapons arsenal, our ultimate deterrent, has been allowed to atrophy and is desperately in need of modernization and renewal. And it has to happen immediately.”
  • On modernizing NATO’s mission, Trump said, “After I’m elected president, I will also call for a summit with our NATO allies and a separate summit with our Asian allies. In these summits, we will not only discuss a rebalancing of financial commitments, but take a fresh look at how we can adopt new strategies for tackling our common challenges. For instance, we will discuss how we can upgrade NATO’s outdated mission and structure, grown out of the Cold War to confront our shared challenges, including migration and Islamic terrorism.”

• During a meeting with “reporters from Jewish and Israel-focused publications and Orthodox activists” on April 14, 2016, Trump was asked how he would refer to the West Bank. Instead of answering, Trump said, there are "many words that I've seen to describe it. … Jason, how would you respond to that?" Jason Greenblatt is “the chief legal officer for the Trump Organization.” According to CNN, “Many Israelis call the area, which their government controls, by the biblical names of Judea and Samaria, terms often embraced by pro-Israel activists and evangelical Christians.”

• In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times on March 25, 2016, Trump discussed economic policy, national security and foreign affairs.
  • Trump said that he would consider stopping oil purchases from Saudi Arabia unless the country offers soldiers to join the ground fight against the Islamic State or “substantially reimburse[s]” the U.S. for its military protection.
  • According to The Times, Trump would also “be open to allowing Japan and South Korea to build their own nuclear arsenals rather than depend on the American nuclear umbrella for their protection against North Korea and China.”
  • Discussing when America was last at its height of power, Trump pointed to Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency at the turn of the century.
  • On ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Trump initially said he did not want to “specifically” address any policy because he “would love to see if a deal could be made.” He later clarified this statement, noting that he supported a two-state solution with the caveat that “the Palestinian Authority has to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.”

• On March 24, 2016, Trump continued to criticize the mission and expense of NATO. He tweeted that the alliance “is obsolete and must be changed to additionally focus on terrorism as well as some of the things it is currently focused on” and that the U.S. shoulders “a disproportionate share” of its cost.

• During a press conference on March 22, 2016, the leadership of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) condemned Trump’s direct attacks against President Obama in his speech on March 21. “We say, unequivocally, that we do not countenance ad hominem attacks, and we take great offense to those that are levied against the president of the United States of America from our stage said. While we may have policy differences, we deeply respect the office of the president of the United States and our president, Barack Obama. We are disappointed that so many people applauded a sentiment that we neither agree with nor condone,” said AIPAC President Lillian Pinkus.

• During a campaign rally on December 19, 2015, Trump said of U.S.-Russia relations, "I mean you look, we're all tough guys, but wouldn't it be nice if like Russia and us could knock out an enemy together? Russia has plenty of problems, but I'll tell you what, if Putin likes me, and he thinks I'm a good, smart person, which, I mean I hope he believes it." Trump added. "I mean I am brilliant actually ... If he says something positive, that's a good thing, that's not a bad thing."

• Trump returned the compliment to Vladimir Putin on December 18, 2015, after the Russian president lavished praise on Trump the day before. On MSNBC's Morning Joe Trump said,"When people call you 'brilliant' it's always good, especially when the person heads up Russia." After the program's hosts pointed out that Putin kills journalists, political opponents and invades countries, Trump still embraced the Russian leader, NBC News reported. "At least he's a leader unlike what we have in this country," Trump said, adding "Our country does plenty of killing also."

• On December 17, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Trump, saying, "He's a very colorful person. Talented, without any doubt. But it's not our affair to determine his worthiness. That's up to the United States voters. … He wants to move to a different level of relations, to more solid, deeper relations with Russia. And how can Russia not welcome that? We welcome that. … As for his internal political issues and his turns of speech which he uses to raise his popularity, I repeat, it’s not our job to judge them.”

• A petition to ban Trump from entering the United Kingdom has received 300,000 signatures, CNN reported on December 9, 2010. Since it has passed the 100,000-signature threshold to be considered by the Parliament's Petitions Committee, the House of Commons has reported that committee will consider whether to place it up for debate on January 5, 2016.

• Trump said he did not believe Russia was directly involved in shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014. “They say it wasn't them. It may have been their weapon, but they didn't use it, they didn't fire it, they even said the other side fired it to blame them. I mean to be honest with you, you'll probably never know for sure,” he said on October 14, 2015, after Dutch investigators announced the plane had been shot down with a Russian-made rocket and warhead.

• Appearing on Fox News on September 8, 2015, Trump said the United States should accept some refugees from Syria. “I hate the concept of it, but on a humanitarian basis, you have to. This was started by President Obama when he didn't go in and do the job he should have when he drew the line in the sand, which turned out to be a very artificial line. But you know, it's living in hell in Syria. There's no question about it. They're living in hell, and something has to be done,” Trump said.

• In an interview with the Daily Caller published on September 7, 2015, Trump stated that the United States “lost a lot of credibility” when it did not back the former president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, when he was ousted in 2011 and that he supported opening relations with Cuba.

• During Trump's presidential bid announcement on June 16, 2015, he warned that China is not only economically but also militarily outpacing the United States. Trump stated, "[China is] building up their military to a point that is very scary. You have a problem with ISIS. You have a bigger problem with China."

• Trump argued in 2014 that European countries should be more engaged than the United States in addressing Russian military intervention in the Ukraine.

• In his 2000 book, The America We Deserve, Trump cautioned against becoming "involved in a long-festering conflict for humanitarian reasons. If that's our standard, we should have troops stationed all over Africa, and much of Asia as well."

Domestic policy

Federalism

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Federalism

Judiciary

• At a town hall on December 12, 2015, Donald Trump criticized Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts for upholding the Affordable Care Act. Trump said, “What he did to Obamacare was disgraceful and I think he did it because he wanted to be popular in the beltway or something, because he did it the first time, and should have never done it and that would have killed it.” Trump added that Justice Clarence Thomas was “highly underrated.”

• In July 2012, Trump called the Supreme Court's decision maintaining the constitutionality of Obamacare "a disaster." Trump added Chief Justice John Roberts, who authored the opinion, was "extremely disloyal" and "wanted to be loved by the Washington establishment."

• In April 2012, Trump criticized President Barack Obama for suggesting it would be unprecedented if the Supreme Court overturned Obamacare, saying, "I think he paid great disrespect to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the Supreme Court for a reason. And it almost is as though he didn't care what they said and they shouldn't be making the decision, and this decision is above them, and they don't exist. And I would think it would be very insulting to go to the Supreme Court with what he said."

Statements in response to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

See also: Justice Ginsburg's comments on Donald Trump, 2016

• In an interview with Maggie Haberman of The New York Times published July 12, 2016, Trump made the following remarks regarding Justice Ginsburg's comments about his possibly becoming president: "I think it's highly inappropriate that a United States Supreme Court judge gets involved in a political campaign, frankly ... I think it's a disgrace to the court and I think she should apologize to the court. I couldn't believe it when I saw it .. That she should be saying that? It's so beneath the court for her to be making statements like that. It only energizes my base even more. And I would hope that she would get off the court as soon as possible."
• In a posted tweet on July 13, Trump called for Justice Ginsburg's resignation, saying that she "has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me. Her mind is shot - resign!"

First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

• When asked by Fox Business’ Stuart Varney on October 21, 2015, if the U.S. should adopt the British proposal to close mosques to combat Islamic extremism, Donald Trump said, “Absolutely. I think it’s great.” Varney then questioned if such a policy would be possible in the U.S. due to “religious freedom.” Trump said, “Well, I don’t know. I mean, I haven’t heard about the closing of the mosque. It depends, if the mosque is, you know, loaded for bear, I don’t know. You’re going to have to certainly look at it.”

• In September 2015, Trump called the detention of Kim Davis, a Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, a “messy situation.” He said, “I hated that and now she’s out. But I must tell you that, you know, we are a land of laws — I would like to see her get a different job or at least let the clerks do that particular work. We are…in a position that’s been a terrible situation that’s taken place out there, and I understand both sides of the argument. And I embrace both sides of the argument. … You can embrace both sides of an argument.”

• Trump claimed in a May 2015 interview that if he were elected president, he would "be the greatest representative of the Christians they've had in a long time."

• In May 2015, Trump denounced the "Draw the Prophet" contest Pamela Geller organized, saying, "This is taunting. And all it does is cause trouble."

Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

• Donald Trump tweeted on June 15, 2016, that he planned to meet with the National Rifle Association (NRA) to discuss “not allowing people on the terrorist watch list, or the no fly list, to buy guns.” The NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action responded in a statement that it would be “happy to meet with Donald Trump” and that it “believes that terrorists should not be allowed to purchase or possess firearms, period.”

• The National Rifle Association (NRA) endorsed Donald Trump on May 20, 2016. Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA, said in a statement, “If Hillary Clinton gets the opportunity to replace Antonin Scalia with an anti-gun Supreme Court justice, we will lose the individual right to keep a gun in the home for self-defense. … So the choice for gun owners in this election is clear. And that choice is Donald Trump.” During his speech at the NRA-ILA forum in Kentucky on May 20, 2016, Trump made a similar allegation, stating that Clinton “wants to abolish the Second Amendment.”
  • Clinton responded to Trump on May 21, 2016, calling his policy to eliminate gun-free zones in schools “dangerous.” She continued, “Parents, teachers and schools should have the right to keep guns out of classrooms. Just like Donald Trump does at many of his hotels by the way.”
  • Trump partially denied the charge on May 22, 2016, during an interview. “I don’t want to have guns in classrooms. Although, in some cases, teachers should have guns in classrooms,” he said.
  • Trump clarified on May 23, 2016, that he supported “school resource officers” and trained teachers carrying guns in schools. He said, “The problem with gun-free zones is it's like offering up candy to bad people. They hear gun-free zones and they go in there with their guns blazing." He maintained his criticism of gun-free zones, but backed away from his call to eliminate all gun-free zones in schools. Instead he said, they would only be eliminated "in some cases."

• During the sixth Republican presidential primary debate, on January 14, 2016, Donald Trump discussed his position on the Second Amendment. He said “I am a Second amendment person. If we had guns in California on the other side where the bullets went in the different direction, you wouldn't have 14 or 15 people dead right now. If even in Paris, if they had guns on the other side, going in the opposite direction, you wouldn't have 130 people plus dead. So the answer is no and what Jeb said is absolutely correct. We have a huge mental health problem in this country. We're closing hospitals, we're closing wards, we're closing so many because the states want to save money. We have to get back into looking at what's causing it. The guns don't pull the trigger. It's the people that pull the trigger and we have to find out what is going on. We have to protect our 2nd amendment and you cannot do this and certainly what Barack Obama was doing with the executive order. He doesn't want to get people together, the old-fashioned way, where you get Congress. You get the Congress, you get the Senate, you get together, you do legislation. He just writes out an executive order. Not supposed to happen that way.”

• Trump said during a campaign rally in Vermont on the night of January 7, 2016, that he would end gun-free zones at schools and military sites. "I will get rid of gun-free zones on schools — you have to — and on military bases on my first day. It gets signed my first day,” Trump pledged. He added, "You know what a gun-free zone is to a sicko? That's bait."

• In an interview on CNN on January 4, 2016, Trump said of President Obama’s use of executive authority to expand background checks on gun buyers, “Pretty soon you won't be able to get guns. It's another step in the way of not getting guns.”

Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

• Donald Trump called for a boycott of Apple on February 19, 2016, to put pressure on the company to cooperate with the government, which wanted Apple's help to hack into the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino, Calif., shooters. "Boycott Apple until such time as they give that information," Trump said at a campaign event in South Carolina. "Apple ought to give the security for that phone, OK. What I think you ought to do is boycott Apple until such a time as they give that security number. How do you like that? I just thought of it. Boycott Apple," Trump said. Apple argued against cooperating with the government in a February 16, 2016, open letter citing concerns that the move would render all iPhones vulnerable by creating a master key that would be able to open other phones.

• Trump said on February 17, 2016, that Apple should follow the court order requiring it to aid the U.S. government in hacking the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino, Calif., shooters. “To think that Apple won't allow us to get into her cell phone -- who do they think they are? No, we have to open it up,” he said. Apple argued that giving the government the ability to access the phone would render all iPhones vulnerable. "The implications of the government’s demands are chilling," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. "The government suggests this tool could only be used once, on one phone. But that’s simply not true. Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks -- from restaurants and banks to stores and homes."

• According to a May 2015 article in The Daily Signal, Trump suggested the National Security Agency (NSA) should be allowed to continue its surveillance with "proper oversight." Trump said, "I support legislation which allows the NSA to hold the bulk metadata. For oversight, I propose that a court, which is available any time on any day, is created to issue individual rulings on when this metadata can be accessed."

• Although Trump criticized Edward Snowden for leaking information on the National Security Agency's surveillance program in a June 2013 interview with CNN's Piers Morgan, he acknowledged people want both privacy and national security. Trump questioned, "You know, where do they stop? How far do they go? What kind of power do they have? So it is a point of view and some very conservative people feel that way and some, frankly, very liberal people. I mean, we're looking at a lot of people are concerned about how far are they going to go."

Natural resources

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Natural resources

• In a speech in Pennsylvania on September 22, 2016, Trump outlined his energy policies. “I’m going to lift the restrictions on American energy and allow this wealth to pour into our communities including right here in the state of Pennsylvania. We will end the war on coal and on miners,” said Trump to attendees of the 2016 Shale Insight Conference, a gathering of natural gas producers. He said, “Billions of dollars in private infrastructure investment have been lost to the Obama-Clinton restriction agenda. … We will streamline the permitting process for all energy infrastructure projects, including the billions of dollars in projects held up by President Obama -– creating countless more jobs in the process.” Trump further outlined that he would roll back Obama's climate change plans, promote oil and gas drilling on federal lands, and promote the construction of oil and gas pipelines.

• During a rally in Fresno, California, on May 27, 2016, Donald Trump said that there was no drought in the state and that officials were prioritizing an endangered fish, the Delta smelt, with its water restrictions. “We’re going to solve your water problem. You have a water problem that is so insane. It is so ridiculous where they’re taking the water and shoving it out to sea,” he said.
  • While campaigning in California on Sunday, Bernie Sanders challenged Trump’s position with sarcasm. “You see, we don't fully appreciate the genius of Donald Trump, who knows more than all the people of California, knows more than all the scientists," he said.

• Donald Trump's campaign asked U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) to draft a white paper on energy policy. The Huffington Post reported on May 13, 2016, that Cramer “would emphasize the dangers of foreign ownership of U.S. energy assets, burdensome taxes, and over-regulation” in his policy paper. Cramer has previously stated that believes the planet is cooling rather than warming.

• On August 24, 2012, Trump tweeted that wind turbines were "an environmental & aesthetic disaster."

• Trump wrote in his 2011 book, Time to Get Tough, that the Marcellus Shale was "one of the largest mother lodes of natural gas" and should be used to buy "more time to innovate and develop newer, more efficient, cleaner, and cheaper forms of energy."

• In a 2011 interview on energy production, Trump expressed incredulity that the United States was not more aggressively using natural gas and drilling.

Climate change

• The Trump campaign released a statement on the Paris Climate Accord after it was announced on October 5, 2016, that the international climate change deal would go into effect on November 4, 2016. The Trump campaign called it a “bad deal” that would “impose enormous costs on American households through higher electricity prices and higher taxes.” The statement went on to say, "As our nation considers these issues, Mr. Trump and Gov. Pence appreciate that many scientists are concerned about greenhouse gas emissions. We need America's scientists to continue studying the scientific issues but without political agendas getting in the way. We also need to be vigilant to defend the interests of the American people in any efforts taken on this front."

• Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, said on September 27, 2016, that Trump believes “global warming is naturally occurring” and humans are not the cause.

• Responding to a questionnaire published in Scientific American on September 13, 2016, Trump said, “There is still much that needs to be investigated in the field of 'climate change.' Perhaps the best use of our limited financial resources should be in dealing with making sure that every person in the world has clean water. Perhaps we should focus on eliminating lingering diseases around the world like malaria. Perhaps we should focus on efforts to increase food production to keep pace with an ever-growing world population. Perhaps we should be focused on developing energy sources and power production that alleviates the need for dependence on fossil fuels. We must decide on how best to proceed so that we can make lives better, safer and more prosperous.”

• Trump delivered a speech on energy production at an oil and natural gas conference in North Dakota on May 26, 2016. Through the use of untapped domestic oil and gas reserves, Trump said that he would make the U.S. independent from foreign oil providers. If elected, he also pledged to take the following actions in his first 100 days in office: rescind the Climate Action Plan and Waters of the U.S. rule, support the renewal of the Keystone XL Pipeline project, cancel the Paris Climate Agreement, and reform the regulatory environment. The merit of future regulations, Trump said, would be determined by asking, “Is this regulation good for the American worker?”

• Politico reported on May 23, 2016, that Trump filed an application to construct a sea wall to protect one of his golf course properties in Ireland from “global warming and its effects.” Trump previously called climate change “a total hoax.”

Fracking

• While campaigning in Colorado Springs, Colo., on July 29, 2016, reporter Brandon Rittiman asked Trump about a fracking ballot measure that would change the state constitution to allow municipalities to ban oil and gas exploration. "Well, I’m in favor of fracking, but I think that voters should have a big say in it,” Trump told the reporter. “I mean, there’s some areas, maybe, they don’t want to have fracking. And I think if the voters are voting for it, that’s up to them… If a municipality or a state wants to ban fracking, I can understand that.” Trump's response put him on the side of environmental activists. The GOP is typically aligned with the energy industry, but Trump's statement on the fracking measure aligns with Hillary Clinton's support of allowing states and cities to determine whether to permit fracking.

Keystone XL Pipeline

• In an interview with Greta Van Sustern on FOX News in January 2012, Trump called President Barack Obama's rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline "disgraceful." Trump added, "Frankly, we don't need Canada. We should just be able to drill our own oil. As long as it's there we certainly should have approved it. It was jobs and cheaper oil. It's just absolutely incredible. I guess President Obama took care of the environmentalists, but it is absolutely terrible. And it is not an environmental problem at all in any way, shape, or form."

Healthcare

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Healthcare

• In a speech in Pennsylvania on November 1, 2016, Trump said he would call for a special session of Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act if elected president. “When we win on November 8th and elect a Republican Congress, we will be able to immediately repeal and replace Obamacare. Have to do it. I will ask Congress to convene a special session so we can repeal and replace. And it will be such an honor for me, for you, and for everybody in this country because Obamacare has to be replaced. And we will do it and we will do it very, very quickly. It is a catastrophe,” said Trump.

• In an interview on September 15, 2016, Trump said that birth control “should not be done by prescription.” He said, “I think what we have in birth control is, you know, when you have to get a prescription, that’s a pretty tough something to climb. And I would say it should not be a prescription, it should not be done by prescription. … you have women that just aren’t able to go get a prescription. So and more and more people are coming out and saying that, but I am not in favor of prescription for birth control.”

• On March 2, 2016, Trump released a seven-point plan for healthcare reform, which he described as based on "free market principles." He stated that he would repeal Obamacare, reduce barriers to the interstate sale of health insurance, institute a full tax deduction for insurance premium payments for individuals, make Health Saving Accounts inheritable, require price transparency, block-grant Medicaid to the states, and allow for more overseas drug providers through lowered regulatory barriers. Trump added that enforcing immigration laws could reduce healthcare costs.

• At the eighth Republican presidential primary debate on February 6, 2016, Donald Trump discussed his position on healthcare, and whether it is closer to Hillary Clinton’s or Bernie Sanders’: "I think I'm closer to common sense. We are going to repeal Obamacare. ... We are going to replace Obamacare with something so much better. And there are so many examples of it. And I will tell you, part of the reason we have some people laughing, because you have insurance people that take care of everybody up here. I am self-funded. The only one they're not taking care of is me. We have our lines around each state. The insurance companies are getting rich on Obamacare. The insurance companies are getting rich on health care and health services and everything having to do with health. We are going to end that. We're going to take out the artificial boundaries, the artificial lines. We're going to get a plan where people compete, free enterprise. They compete. So much better. In addition to that, you have the health care savings plans, which are excellent. What I do say is, there will be a certain number of people that will be on the street dying and as a Republican, I don't want that to happen. We're going to take care of people that are dying on the street because there will be a group of people that are not going to be able to even think in terms of private or anything else and we're going to take care of those people. And I think everybody on this stage would have to agree, you're not going to let people die, sitting in the middle of a street in any city in this country."

• Trump suggested that he supported universal healthcare on September 27, 2015. “I am going to take care of everybody. I don’t care if it costs me votes or not. Everybody’s going to be taken care of much better than they’re taken care of now,” he said.

• In a July 2015 Forbes interview on how Trump would replace Obamacare, a Trump spokesperson said, “Mr. Trump will be proposing a health plan that will return authority to the states and operate under free market principles. Mr. Trump’s plan will provide choice to the buyer, provide individual tax relief for health insurance and keep plans portable and affordable. The plan will break the health insurance company monopolies and allow individuals to buy across state lines.”

Immigration

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Immigration

• In a speech on October 22, 2016, Trump said that, if elected, he would work with Congress to pass the “End Illegal Immigration Act,” which he said “[f]ully-funds the construction of a wall on our southern border with the full understanding that the country Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such wall.”

• At a "commander-in-chief" forum on NBC News on September 7, 2016, Trump said he was open to allowing undocumented immigrations serving in the military to remain in the country. He said, "I think that when you serve in the armed forces, that’s a very special situation, and I could see myself working that out, absolutely.”

• On August 31, 2016, Trump delivered a speech in Phoenix, Arizona, where he discussed immigration policy, saying, “For those here illegally today who are seeking legal status, they will have one route and one route only. To return home and apply for re-entry like everybody else under the rules of the new legal immigration system that I have outlined today.” In the speech, Trump laid out a ten point plan on immigration policy:
  • One: “We will build a great wall along the southern border. And Mexico will pay for the wall.”
  • Two: “We are going to end catch and release. … Under my administration, anyone who illegally crosses the border will be detained until they are removed out of our country and back to the country from which they came.”
  • Three: “Zero tolerance for criminal aliens. Zero. They don't come in here. They don't come in here. … We're going to triple the number of ICE deportation officers. … We're also going to hire 5,000 more Border Patrol agents.”
  • Four: “Block funding for sanctuary cities. We block the funding. No more funds.”
  • Five: “Cancel unconstitutional executive orders and enforce all immigration laws. We will immediately terminate President Obama's two illegal executive amnesties in which he defied federal law and the Constitution to give amnesty to approximately five million illegal immigrants, five million.”
  • Six: “Suspend the issuance of visas to any place where adequate screening cannot occur.”
  • Seven: “Ensure that other countries take their people back when they order them deported.”
  • Eight: “We will finally complete the biometric entry-exit visa tracking system which we need desperately. … The politicians are all talk, no action, never happens. Never happens. … In my administration we will ensure that this system is in place.”
  • Nine: “Turn off the jobs and benefits magnet. We will ensure that E-Verify is used to the fullest extent possible under existing law.”
  • Ten: “Reform legal immigration to serve the best interests of America and its workers the forgotten people. Workers. We're going to take care of our workers.”

• In part two of a town hall event that aired on Fox News on August 24, 2016, Trump indicated an openness to altering his stance on illegal immigration. Responding to a question about whether he would allow undocumented immigrants who have not committed crimes to stay in the country, Trump said, “No citizenship. Let me go a step further -- they'll pay back-taxes, they have to pay taxes, there's no amnesty, as such, there's no amnesty, but we work with them. Now, everybody agrees we get the bad ones out. But when I go through and I meet thousands and thousands of people on this subject, and I've had very strong people come up to me, really great, great people come up to me, and they've said, ‘Mr. Trump, I love you, but to take a person who's been here for 15 or 20 years and throw them and their family out, it's so tough, Mr. Trump.' I have it all the time! It's a very, very hard thing."
• At a town hall event in Austin, Texas, on August 23, 2016, Trump said that he was open to “a softening” on some of his immigration policies. “There certainly can be a softening because we're not looking to hurt people. We want people — we have some great people in this country. We are going to follow the laws of this country.” Trump added that he still plans to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, saying, “It's going to happen, 100 percent.”

• After Trump met with his newly formed Hispanic advisory council on August 20, 2016, there were some reports that Trump was open to a path to legalization. “He said people who are here is the toughest part of the immigration debate, that it must be something that respects border security but deals with this in a humane and efficient manner,” said Jacob Monty. Former Romney advisor Jose Fuentes, who also attended the meeting, said, “The idea is we’re not getting someone in front of the line, we’re doing it in a legal way, but he wants to hear ideas of how we deal with 11 million people that are here with no documents.” In an interview on Sunday, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said it was “to be determined” whether Trump would continue to support forced deportation.
  • During an interview on Fox News on August 22, 2016, Trump was asked to clarify his position on addressing illegal immigration. “We have to be very firm. We have to be very, very strong when people come in illegally. We have a lot of people that want to come in through the legal process and it's not fair for them. And we're working with a lot of people in the Hispanic community to try and come up with an answer,” he said. When asked if he was flip-flopping from previous calls for deportation, he responded, “No, I'm not flip-flopping. We want to come up with one a really fair, but firm answer. That's — it has to be very firm. But we want to come up with something fair.”
  • In a pre-recorded interview with Fox News that aired later the same day, Trump backed deportation, at the least, for violent criminals. “We’re going to obey the existing laws. Now, the existing laws are very strong. The existing laws, the first thing we’re gonna do, if and when I win, is we’re gonna get rid of all of the bad ones. We’ve got gang members, we have killers, we have a lot of bad people that have to get out of this country.” He also said he would not use detention centers.

• During an interview on with NBC host Chuck Todd on July 24, 2016, Trump discussed his plan to "immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time it's proven that vetting mechanisms have been put in place." He said, "People were so upset when I used the word Muslim. Oh, you can't use the word Muslim. Remember this. And I'm okay with that, because I'm talking territory instead of Muslim." Trump said he will release a list of places “from which he would want to cut off immigration.” Trump added, "We have nations and we'll come out -- I'm going to be coming out over the next few weeks with a number of the places. … there are specific problems in Germany and we have problems with France. … Here is what I want: Extreme vetting. Tough word. Extreme vetting... we're going to have tough standards."
• Trump delivered a speech in New Hampshire on June 13, 2016, addressing national security concerns, Hillary Clinton’s response to terrorism, and the Orlando mass shooting. Trump presented immigration reform as a critical element of his anti-terrorism policy.
  • On the Orlando shooter’s heritage, Trump said, “The killer, whose name I will not use, or ever say, was born to Afghan parents who immigrated to the United States. His father published support for the Afghan Taliban, a regime which murders those who don’t share its radical views. The father even said he was running for President of that country. The bottom line is that the only reason the killer was in America in the first place was because we allowed his family to come here.”
  • During the same speech on June 13, 2016, Trump addressed suspending immigration from countries with histories of terrorism. He said, “I called for a ban after San Bernardino, and was met with great scorn and anger but now, many are saying I was right to do so – and although the pause is temporary, we must find out what is going on. The ban will be lifted when we as a nation are in a position to properly and perfectly screen those people coming into our country. The immigration laws of the United States give the President the power to suspend entry into the country of any class of persons that the President deems detrimental to the interests or security of the United States, as he deems appropriate. I will use this power to protect the American people. When I am elected, I will suspend immigration from areas of the world when there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies, until we understand how to end these threats.”

• During a campaign event in Exeter, New Hampshire, on February 4, 2016, a woman from Southern California said to Trump, "I know the role that they [individuals who immigrated to the U.S. illegally] have in the California and national economy because they do work that no one else wants to do and for a lot less.” Trump responded, "Who told you to be here? Bernie? No, no, this is a Bernie plant. This is a Bernie plant. All right, OK, I understand your question." A second woman then yelled, “that immigrants were part of the backbone of the US,” according to Yahoo. Trump replied, "I don't think so, darling. I don't think so. I don't think so. No, I don't think so. They're not the backbone. … Let me just tell you something, you know what the backbone of our country [is]? People that came here and they came here legally. People that came to this country legally. And they worked their a-- off and they made the country great. That's the backbone.”

• Reuters reported on December 22, 2015, that several liberal and Latino activist organizations are using Donald Trump’s rhetoric on immigration to register Latino voters. Trump’s campaign chairman in New Hampshire, Fred Doucette, rejected the idea, saying, “The ones that are upset are the ones that are illegal quite frankly.” Alfonso Aguilar of the conservative American Principles Project said, however, that “Donald Trump is a political gift to the Democratic political machine.”

• At the fifth GOP primary debate on December 15, 2015, Trump discussed his position on immigration: “I have a very hardline position, we have a country or we don't have a country. People that have come into our country illegally, they have to go. They have to come back into through a legal process. I want a strong border. I do want a wall. Walls do work, you just have to speak to the folks in Israel. Walls work if they're properly constructed. I know how to build, believe me, I know how to build. I feel a very, very strong bind, and really I'm bound to this country, we either have a border or we don't. People can come into the country, we welcome people to come but they have to come in legally.”

• At the fifth GOP primary debate on December 15, 2015, Trump discussed protecting America’s borders: “We are not talking about isolation. We're talking about security. We're not talking about religion. We're talking about security. Our country is out of control. People are pouring across the southern border. I will build a wall. It will be a great wall. People will not come in unless they come in legally. Drugs will not pour through that wall. As far as other people like in the migration, where they're going, tens of thousands of people having cell phones with ISIS flags on them? I don't think so, Wolf. They're not coming to this country. And if I'm president and if Obama has brought some to this country, they are leaving. They're going. They're gone.”

• During an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on November 11, 2015, Trump discussed his plan to deport those in the U.S. without documentation. He said, "You're going to have a deportation force, and you're going to do it humanely. You have millions of people that are waiting in line to come into this country and they're waiting to come in legally."

• Trump said on October 29, 2015, in an interview with Breitbart that he requested Walt Disney rehire approximately 250 U.S. employees it replaced with foreigners holding H1-B visas. "I am calling on Rubio to immediately rescind his sponsorship of the [H-1B] bill and apologize to every Floridian for endorsing it,” Trump added.

• At a Trump campaign rally on October 23, 2015, a Latino immigration activist was forced to the ground and kicked as others chanted, “USA! USA!” Trump acknowledged the removal of several protesters during his speech at the rally, saying, “You can get 'em out, but don't hurt 'em." Later, he added, "See the first group, I was nice: 'Oh, take your time.’ The second group, I was pretty nice. The third group, I'll be pretty more violent. And the fourth group, I'll say, 'Get the hell out of here!'"

• During an interview on Fox News, October 18, 2015, Trump said that his immigration policy would have prevented the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He said, “I am extremely, extremely tough on illegal immigration. I am extremely tough on people coming into this country. I believe that if I were running things, I doubt that those people would have been in the country. ...I’m not blaming George Bush. But I don’t want Jeb to say 'my brother kept us safe.'”

• In September 2015, Trump said it would take 18 months to 2 years to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants with “really good management.”

• Trump announced the details of his immigration platform on August 16, 2015. To pay for a border wall, Trump said he would “impound all remittance payments derived from illegal wages; increase fees on all temporary visas issued to Mexican CEOs and diplomats (and if necessary cancel them); increase fees on all border crossing cards – of which we issue about 1 million to Mexican nationals each year (a major source of visa overstays); increase fees on all NAFTA worker visas from Mexico (another major source of overstays); and increase fees at ports of entry to the United States from Mexico.” Trump also intended to triple the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, institute nationwide E-Verify, process the "mandatory return of all criminal aliens," detain undocumented immigrants and only release them to their country of origin, defund sanctuary cities, enhance penalties for overstaying a visa, end birthright citizenship, require companies to hire American workers first and apply stricter standards for refugee status.

• According to Reuters, Trump's companies applied for temporary visas for at least 1,100 foreign workers between 2000 and 2015.

• On July 26, 2015, Trump said his immigration plan would begin with deporting "the bad ones." Trump explained, “I'm gonna get rid of the bad ones fast, and I'm gonna send them back. We're not going to be putting them in prisons here and pay for them for the next 40 years.”

• During a trip to the Mexican border on July 23, 2015, which Trump claimed put him in “great danger,” he reiterated his support for a wall along the border “in certain sections.”

• During his presidential bid announcement speech on June 16, 2015, Trump stated immigrants from Mexico are "people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." Trump added, "I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively, I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall."

• Trump said providing a path to citizenship would be politically disadvantageous for Republicans at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference. He explained, "You can be out front, you can be the spearhead, you can do whatever you want to do, but every one of those 11 million people will be voting Democratic. It's just the way it works and you have to be very, very careful because you could say that to a certain extent, the odds aren't looking so great right now for Republicans, that you're on a suicide mission. You're just not going to get those votes."

• In 2011, Trump rejected the idea that children born in the United States to a mother residing there without legal permission should gain American citizenship under the Constitution. Trump said, "The clear purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War, was to guarantee full citizenship rights to now emancipated former slaves. It was not intended to guarantee untrammeled immigration to the United States."

• In 2000, Trump noted in his book, The America We Deserve, that legal immigration should be made more challenging. Trump wrote, "The majority of legal immigrants can often make significant contributions to our society because they have special skills and because they add to our nation’s cultural diversity. They come with the best of intentions. But legal immigrants do not and should not enter easily. It’s a long, costly, draining, and often frustrating experience-by design. I say to legal immigrants: Welcome and good luck."

DACA/ DAPA

• After the United States Supreme Court blocked President Obama from implementing his Immigration Accountability Executive Actions on June 23, 2016, Donald Trump tweeted: "SC has kept us safe from exec amnesty--for now. But Hillary has pledged to expand it, taking jobs from Hispanic & African-American workers." He also issued the following statement: "Today's 4-4 Supreme Court ruling has blocked one of the most unconstitutional actions ever undertaken by a President. The executive amnesty from President Obama wiped away the immigration rules written by Congress, giving work permits and entitlement benefits to people illegally in the country. This split decision also makes clear what is at stake in November. The election, and the Supreme Court appointments that come with it will decide whether or not we have a border and, hence, a country. Clinton has pledged to expand Obama's executive amnesty, hurting poor African-American and Hispanic workers by giving away their jobs and federal resources to illegal immigrant labor – while making us all less safe. It is time to protect our country and Make America Safe Again and Great Again for everyone."

• In August 2015, Trump said that he would rescind President Obama's Immigration Accountability Executive Actions, which proposed extending DACA and creating DAPA. During an interview with Chuck Todd, host of NBC's "Meet the Press," Trump said, "We have to make a whole new set of standards. And when people come in, they have to come in..." Todd then interrupted Trump, asking, "You're going to split up families. You're going to deport children." Trump replied, "Chuck — no, no. No, we're going to keep the families together. We have to keep the families together." Todd then asked, "But you're going to kick them out?" Trump replied, "They have to go." Todd then asked, "What if they have no place to go?" Trump said, "We will work with them. They have to go. Chuck, we either have a country or we don't have a country. Either we have a country or not."

Education

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Education

• Trump laid out a student loan repayment plan in a speech in Ohio on October 13, 2016. He said, “We would cap repayment for an affordable portion of the borrower’s income, 12.5 percent, we’d cap it. That gives you a lot to play with and a lot to do. And if borrowers work hard and make their full payments for 15 years, we’ll let them get on with their lives. They just go ahead and they get on with their lives. … Students should not be asked to pay more on the debt than they can afford. And the debt should not be an albatross around their necks for the rest of their lives.”

• Trump called school choice the “new civil rights issue of our time” at a campaign event in Virginia on September 24, 2016. He said, “Too many African Americans have been left behind and trapped in poverty. I will fight to make sure every single African American child in this country is fully included in the American dream. That includes the new civil rights issue of our time: School choice.”

• On September 8, 2016, Trump delivered a speech on education policy in Ohio. He said, “As your president I will be the nation's biggest cheerleader for school choice. I understand many stale old politicians will resist, but it's time for our country to start thinking big and correct once again.” He proposed allocating $20 billion towards school choice policies. In his speech in Ohio, Trump also commented on the issue of merit pay for teachers, saying, “I will also support merit pay for teachers so that we reward our best teachers instead of the failed tenure system that rewards bad teachers and punishes the good ones.”

• Trump gave a speech at the American Legion national convention in Ohio on September 1, 2016, where he discussed his goal of promoting patriotism in U.S. schools. Trump said, “Together, we are going to work on so many shared goals. But I want to begin by discussing one goal that I know is so important to all of you: promoting American pride and patriotism in America’s schools. In a Trump Administration, I plan to work directly with the American Legion to uphold our common values and to help ensure they are taught to America’s children. We want our kids to learn the incredible achievements of America’s history, its institutions, and its heroes. We will stop apologizing for America, and we will start celebrating America. We will be united by our common culture, values and principles – becoming One American Nation. One country, under one constitution, saluting one American Flag. The flag all of you helped to protect and preserve. That flag deserves respect, and I will work with American Legion to help to strengthen respect for our flag – and, by the way, we want young Americans to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.”

• In an interview on January 11, 2016, with The Wall Street Journal, Donald Trump said he would do “tremendous cutting” of the federal government. Education policy, he said, should be returned to the states, and he said he would end the Common Core education standards, which conservatives view as federal overreach. “Education should be local and locally managed,” said Trump.

Abortion

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Abortion

• On September 19, 2016, Donald Trump announced that he had appointed Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, as the chair of his national “Pro-Life Coalition.” In a letter to anti-abortion leaders, Trump announced the appointment and outlined his views on abortion, which included “Nominating pro-life justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, signing into law the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act … defunding Planned Parenthood … making the Hyde Amendment permanent law.”

• The New York Times Magazine published a profile of Trump on May 18, 2016, covering the changes in his presidential campaign over several months. Trump discussed his statement that women should be punished for having abortions. He said, “I didn’t mean punishment for women like prison. I’m saying women punish themselves. I didn’t want people to think in terms of ‘prison’ punishment. And because of that I walked it back.”

• Trump said on April 21, 2016, that he would “absolutely” change the Republican Party platform opposing abortion to include exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother.

• During a town hall on March 30, 2016, hosted by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, Trump said that “there has to be some form of punishment” for women who have abortions if abortion is criminalized. Shortly after the remarks were made public, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks released the following statement from Trump: “This issue is unclear and should be put back into the states for determination. Like Ronald Reagan, I am pro-life with exceptions, which I have outlined numerous times." Trump issued a second statement on Wednesday evening, stating, "If Congress were to pass legislation making abortion illegal and the federal courts upheld this legislation, or any state were permitted to ban abortion under state and federal law, the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman.”

Gay rights

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Gay rights

• After previously stating that North Carolina should "[l]eave it the way it is," and permit transgender individuals to use the restroom they feel most comfortable using, Donald Trump told ABC News on May 13, 2016, “I believe it should be states’ rights and the state should make the decision. They’re more capable of making the decision.” Trump made this comment after the Obama administration issued guidance directing public schools to allow transgender students to use restrooms matching their gender identity.

• In an interview on April 21, 2016, Donald Trump said that North Carolina erred when it passed a bill restricting transgender individuals’ access to bathrooms that conform with their gender identity. “North Carolina did something that was very strong and they’re paying a big price. There’s a lot of problems. You leave it the way it is. There have been very few complaints the way it is. People go, they use the bathroom they feel is appropriate, there has been so little trouble, and the problem with what happened in North Carolina is the strife, and the economic punishment that they’re taking,” Trump said. He added that he would be comfortable with transgender activist Caitlyn Jenner using whichever bathroom she chose in Trump Tower.

• On the issue of gay marriage, Donald Trump said during a November 2013 interview on MSNBC, "I think I’m evolving, and I think I’m a very fair person, but I have been for traditional marriage. I am for traditional marriage, I am for a marriage between a man and a woman.”

• In a March 2011 interview with The Des Moines Register, Trump said gay couples should not be allowed to marry or receive the same benefits as married heterosexual couples.

Obergefell v. Hodges

• In a June 28, 2015, interview on CNN's "State of the Union," Donald Trump was asked by anchor Jake Tapper how Trump's three marriages fit into the definition of "traditional marriage." Trump responded that someone asking the question has "a very good point" and suggested he was at fault for his divorces. Tapper said he wasn't asking for an explanation for Trump's divorces, but rather what he would say to a gay person on this question. Trump answered, "I don't say anything. I'm just for traditional marriage."

• On June 26, 2015, following the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, Trump tweeted, "Once again the Bush appointed Supreme Court Justice John Roberts has let us down. Jeb pushed him hard! Remember!"

Transgender restroom access

• Before a campaign event in Raleigh, N.C., on July 5, 2016, reporters backstage asked Trump if he supported HB 2, the North Carolina law that prohibits transgender individuals from using a bathroom that does not match their gender at birth, or if he thought the state should make changes to it. Trump replied, "I'm going with the state. The state, they know what's going on. They see what's happening and generally speaking I go with the state on things like this." Later during his appearance, Trump told supporters that he would be “better for the gay community” than Clinton.
• During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live on May 25, 2016, Trump refused to take a stance on the transgender restroom issue and told Kimmel, “Let the states decide.” When Kimmel pressed Trump for his personal opinion, Trump said only, “I think the states will do the right thing.” Asked what the right thing is, Trump said, “I don’t know yet. I mean, I don’t know.”
• After saying that transgender individuals should "use the "bathroom that they feel is appropriate," on April 21, 2016, Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity later that day that while he disagrees with the law, he believes North Carolina had a right to enact it. “I think that local communities and states should make the decision,” Trump said. “And I feel very strongly about that. The federal government should not be involved.” Trump also told Hannity that states should “absolutely" be able to decide whether to implement such a law.
• Discussing the North Carolina law that prohibits transgender individuals from using a bathroom that does not match their gender at birth during a town hall event on NBC's Today on April 21, 2016, Trump said, "There have been very few complaints the way it is. People go. They use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate." Trump continued "There has been so little trouble. And the problem with what happened in North Carolina is the strife and the economic -- I mean, the economic punishment that they're taking."

• Referring to businesses that have canceled expansions in North Carolina because of the law, Trump also said, "Leave it the way it is. North Carolina, what they're going through with all the business that's leaving, all of the strife -- and this is on both sides. Leave it the way it is."

• On August 17, 2015, MSNBC asked Gregory T. Angelo, executive director of the pro-LGBT Log Cabin Republicans, if it was safe to call Trump 2016’s most LGBT-friendly Republican. He responded, “I think that might be going a little overboard.” Angelo added: “It’s important to point out that Trump is not the first GOP Republican candidate to say he supports nondiscrimination protections for LGBT individuals.” Angelo was referring to former presidential candidate Jeb Bush, who said he didn’t think people should be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. “Period. Over and out,” Bush said.
• In an interview with The Brody File on April 12, 2011, Trump was asked whether he supported civil unions. Trump replied, “First of all, I live in New York. I know many, many gay people. Tremendous people. And to be honest with you, as far as civil unions are concerned, I haven't totally formed my opinion. But there can be no discrimination against gays.”
• In his 2000 political manifesto, “The America That We Deserve,” Trump outlined his dream of an America free of “racism, discrimination against women, or discrimination against people based on sexual orientation.”

Civil liberties

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Civil liberties

• Trump posted a pledge on his Facebook page on August 16, 2016, promising to “reject bigotry and hatred and oppression in all its forms.” The statement reads, “This is my pledge to the American people: as your President I will be your greatest champion. I will fight to ensure that every American is treated equally, protected equally, and honored equally. We will reject bigotry and hatred and oppression in all its forms, and seek a new future built on our common culture and values as one American people.”

• On August 9, 2016, Trump stated his support for a voter ID law in North Carolina that a federal appeals court struck down in July 2016. The court argued that the law was “passed with racially discriminatory intent.” Regarding North Carolina’s voter ID law and others like it elsewhere, Trump stated, “Voter ID. What’s with that? What’s with voter ID? Why aren’t we having voter ID. In other words, I want to vote, here’s my identification. I want to vote. As opposed to somebody coming up and voting 15 times for Hillary. And I will not tell you to vote 15 times. I will not tell you to do that. You won’t vote 15 times, but people will. They’ll vote many times, and how that could have happened is unbelievable.”

• Donald Trump said in a 2011 Forbes interview that online gambling "has to happen because many other countries are doing it and like usual the U.S. is just missing out." Additionally, the country could benefit from tax revenue produced by the new gaming outlet. At the time of this interview, Trump had a personal stake in online gaming regulation because of a potential joint venture with hedge fund manager, Marc Lasry.

• In 1990, Trump argued that drugs should be legalized and taxed "to take the profit away" from drug dealers.

Race and ethnicity

• At a rally in Florida on August 24, 2016, Trump made an appeal to black and Hispanic voters, saying, “To the Hispanic parent, you have a right to walk outside without being shot” and “[t]o African-American parents, you have a right to walk down your street without having you or your child shot.” Trump also criticized the track record of Democratic leaders in U.S. cities, saying, “The Democratic Party has run nearly every inner city in this country for 50 or 60 years, or in some cases over 100 years. Over 100 years. They've produced only more poverty, only more crime, only more joblessness and broken homes all over the place, at record levels.” The Trump campaign announced plans to increase its outreach to Hispanic and African American voters by visiting churches, local businesses owned by Hispanics and African Americans, and schools in urban areas.

• After taking some criticism for not reaching out to the African American community, Trump made a direct appeal to black voters in a speech in Wisconsin on August 16, 2016. Commenting on the riots in Milwaukee, he said, “Law and order must be restored. It must be restored for the sake of all, but most especially for the sake of those living in the affected communities. The main victims of these riots are law-abiding African American citizens living in these neighborhoods. It’s their job, it’s their homes, it’s their schools and communities which will suffer the most as a result. … It is time for our society to address some honest and very difficult truths. The Democratic party has failed and betrayed the African American community.”

• In 2005, Trump proposed creating a season of The Apprentice that would pit a “team of successful African Americans versus a team of successful whites.” He said, “Whether people like that idea or not, it is somewhat reflective of our very vicious world."

• On August 2, 2015, Donald Trump called the number of unarmed black men being killed by police officers “a massive crisis." He added, however, "[W]e have to give power back to the police because we have to have law and order. Hundreds of killings are in Baltimore. Hundreds of killings are in Chicago. And New York is not doing so great in terms of that front. We have to give strength and power back to the police. And you're always going to have mistakes made. And you're always going to have bad apples. But you can't let that stop the fact that police have to regain some control of this tremendous crime wave and killing wave that's happening in this country."

• Trump released several tweets on April 28, 2015, regarding the civil unrest in Baltimore, Maryland. Trump suggested the National Guard should intervene and that the Baltimore police were standing idle. Criticizing President Barack Obama, Trump added, "Our great African American President hasn't exactly had a positive impact on the thugs who are so happily and openly destroying Baltimore!"

• Following the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Trump said in August 2014, "This is a racial situation. It’s not covered that way in the press. It’s not even discussed in the press. They don’t want to discuss it. They stay away from it." In November 2014, as the grand jury decision regarding Brown's murder was pending, Trump tweeted, "They’re going to riot in Ferguson no matter what."

See also

• Donald Trump
• Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016
• Presidential election, 2016

Footnotes

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