Trump calls on Musk to lead federal audit, promising regulatory bloodbath
Donald Trump pledged to cut the corporate tax rate, slash regulations and audit the federal government, embracing an idea proposed by billionaire backer Elon Musk, as he pitched his agenda to Wall Street and corporate leaders in New York.
“I am promising low taxes, low regulations, low energy costs, low interest rates, secure borders, low, low, low crime,” Trump said Thursday at the Economic Club of New York, seeking to draw a contrast with Democratic rival Kamala Harris.
The centerpiece of his address was a push to reduce the corporate tax rate to 15% for companies that make their products in the US. That move would be a large reduction from the current 21% rate — a key policy win from Trump’s own 2017 tax law.
“We want to make our goods in America and most of them we can,” Trump said. “If you outsource, offshore or replace American workers, you are not eligible for any of these benefits.”
As president, Trump sought to reduce the corporate rate from 35% to 15%, but ultimately landed on 21% after pressure from Republicans to pare back cuts to allow for more tax benefits for households.
A 15% corporate rate would represent a major win for large US corporations, but would also contribute to rising deficits. It would mean big companies end up paying far lower rates than smaller, privately-held businesses, where rates can be as high as 37%.
Trump’s proposal is also in direct opposition to Harris’ vision for corporate taxes. She has called to increase the corporate rate to 28%.
A push to lower the corporate tax rate also threatens to spark a major policy fight in Washington as Congress negotiates over whether to extend major portions of Trump’s 2017 tax law set to expire in 2025.
Government Efficiency
Trump also vowed to establish a task force to review federal expenditures, an idea recommended by Musk, the Tesla Inc. and SpaceX chief executive officer. Trump said the commission would be “tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms.”
“Elon, because he’s not very busy, has agreed to head that task force,” Trump said about tapping Musk, the world’s richest person.
Musk has called for a federal task force to ensure taxpayer money is spent effectively and pitched himself for a role in that effort. The former president has praised Musk as “the greatest cutter.”
On Thursday, Trump also pledged to eliminate 10 regulations for every new regulation if elected, increasing a promise from his first term to eliminate two regulations for every new rule.
Economic Messaging
Both Trump and Harris are ramping up their economic messaging, seeking to court swing-state voters as well as business executives in an election where the economy is a commanding issue.
Polls show voters think the US economy under President Joe Biden and Harris is improving but still headed in the wrong direction, perceptions fueled by worries over high prices that have burdened American households.
A Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll conducted Aug. 23-27 in seven swing states likely to determine November’s outcome showed likely voters trusted Trump on the economy by 50% to 44% over Harris, and more than half think they were better off financially under Trump than Biden and Harris.
While Trump pledged to usher in lower interest rates, the president doesn’t have any direct control over the setting of rates. That job is assigned by Congress to the Federal Reserve, which lowers or raises its benchmark federal funds rate to influence borrowing costs across the economy on instruments from mortgages to government bonds to car loans.
The US central bank has kept rates at a more than two-decade high since July 2023 in a bid to tame the highest inflation since the early 1980s. Officials are expected to begin lowering rates later this month as price pressures continue to ease and the labor market cools.
Tariff Threat
Trump also defended his threats to hit both US adversaries and allies with tariffs if he returns to power, casting it as a “pro-American trade policy that uses tariffs to encourage production here.”
The former president has floated the idea of using tariff hikes to pay for some income tax cuts. He has promised to enact a 10% across-the-board tariff on all imports and 60% duties on Chinese goods if he wins. Many economists, though, say Trump’s proposed tariffs would reignite inflation.
Trump said he would declare a national emergency on energy to spur domestic production and quickly approve more development of oil and gas extraction — measures he said would help ease high prices. Trump also cast the policy as necessary for emerging industries such as artificial intelligence and to keep the US competitive with China.
“Electricity is desperately needed for AI,” Trump said.
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