Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump blasted incompetent politicians, unfair international trade deals, and high taxes in a speech Monday in Detroit. The address before the Detroit Economic Clubwas billed as a major policy speech.
Trump said industrial cities like Detroit are still struggling while current policies send jobs and wealth to other countries. He promised to change that.
“The Motor City will come roaring back – roaring back,” Trump said to the cheers of a capacity crowd in Cobo Center. “We will put new American metal into the spine of this nation. It will be American hands that re-build this country. And it will be American energy, mined from American sources that powers this country.”
Lower taxes, fewer regulations, and re-negotiated trade deals. Those were key points in the Trump economic plan rollout.
A disciplined and even-tempered Donald Trump took the stage at the Detroit Economic Club. Trump stood silent as hecklers interrupted more than a dozen times before being led out of the room.
Trump says tax and trade policies have shipped US jobs and wealth overseas, and he can bring them back.
“Americanism and not globalism will be our new credo,” he said.
Trump says more details of his plans for the economy will be released in coming weeks.
Michigan is a critical state on Trump’s path to the White House, although the state has not gone with the Republican candidate since 1988.
Michigan Attorney General BillSchuette says it’s not too late for Trump to win the state. He says there’s enough dissatisfaction out there for Trump to appeal to voters with a plan to cut taxes and regulations.
“Whether you live in Michigan, or you live in 49 other states and for territories,” he said, “the fact is people want more jobs and more paychecks and we’re not getting any RPMs out of Washington.”
Hundreds of protestors gathered outside Cobo Hall in Detroit, where Trump delivered the address.
Jan Tjernlund carried a sign that said “Trump the Divider.” Tjernlun says she considers Trump temperamentally unfit to be president.
“He is just completely incompetent to run a country,” she said, “and he has no knowledge of the Constitution, no knowledge of the government, and how government works.”
Two recent polls show Trump losing right now to Hillary Clinton.
The Democratic nominee will pay a visit to metro Detroit on Thursday to deliver a speech on jobs and the economy.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
— Rick Pluta is the Managing Editor and Reporter for the Michigan Public Radio network. Contact WEMU News at734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
