In a recent speech at the Economic Club of New York, Trump suggested that tariffs could be used to solve seemingly unrelated challenges such as the rising cost of child care in the U.S., as part of a broader promise that tariffs can raise trillions of dollars to fund his agenda without those costs being passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices. That's a view with which many economists disagree since tariffs directly raise the prices of purchasing goods.

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Trump made the proposal during a speech at The Economic Club of New York, questioning why the U.S. does not have a sovereign wealth fund and saying his administration would make the country’s own fund “to invest in great national endeavors for the benefit of all of the American people.”

Read More: Donald Trump touts economic plan to slash prices and taps Elon Musk to help

"Regulation costs 30 percent of a new home, and we will open up portions of federal land for large-scale housing construction," Trump said in a speech at the Economic Club of New York. "These zones will be ultra-low tax and ultra-low regulations—one of the great small business job creation programs."

Read More: Kamala Harris, Donald Trump Plans for Housing, Child Care, Taxes Compared

“This commission will develop an action plan to totally eliminate fraud and improper payments within six months,” Trump said in a speech to a room full of business executives at the Economic Club of New York.

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The former president, in a lengthy speech to business and Wall Street leaders at the Economic Club of New York, returned to a topic that has been core to his political identity for decades — namely, an eagerness to tax imports.

Read More: Trump is more locked in on tariffs than ever before

Trump has warmly welcomed Musk's support. During a September 5 speech at the Economic Club of New York, Trump revealed plans inspired by the tech entrepreneur: "At the suggestion of Elon Musk, who has given me his complete and total endorsement... I will create a government efficiency commission tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms."

Read More: Elon Musk Praises Trump's "Courage Under Fire" at Emotional Butler Rally

Trump has long wanted to reduce the corporate tax rate to below 21%. He unveiled his latest proposal earlier this month at the Economic Club of New York: a 15% rate for companies that make their products in the US, which on Tuesday he called “the centerpiece” of his plan for a manufacturing renaissance.

Read More: Here’s how Trump says he’ll help US businesses through tariffs and taxes

“I’m proud to be the only president in modern history to achieve a net regulatory reduction during my term, and it was a substantial reduction,” Trump said during a speech at the Economic Club of New York. “I’m pledging today that in my second term, we will eliminate a minimum of 10 old regulations for every one new regulation.”

Read More: Biden administration has imposed $1.7 trillion in regulatory costs, House Republicans find.

He has committed to conducting a complete financial audit of the federal government within six months of taking office. In a speech to the Economic Club of New York, he asserted, “As soon as I get to office, we will make housing much more affordable.” He criticized the Biden administration’s economic record, emphasizing that “as inflation is tamed, interest rates will dramatically fall.”

Read more: JP Morgan CEO backs Donald Trump's efficiency panel headed by Elon Musk; Here's what the committee will do


 

When asked this month how he would enact specific policies to help parents with child care, Trump said it was “a very important issue” before adding that it paled in comparison to the “trillions” he could add to the U.S. economy by levying new tariffs on imports. “As much as child care is talked about as being expensive, it’s relatively speaking not very expensive compared to the kind of numbers we’re taking in,” he said at an event hosted by the Economic Club of New York.

Read More: For some parents, surging child-care costs could determine how they vote

During a recent speech to the Economic Club of New York in which he outlined second term priorities, former President Donald Trump announced his intention to “create a government efficiency commission tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government.”

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Before former president Donald Trump spoke to the Economic Club of New York this month, he prepped for the crowd of Wall Street power brokers and other traditional business elites who would be in attendance.

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Mr. Trump’s plan, which he outlined Sept. 5 at the Economic Club of New York, includes keeping the 2017 tax cuts in place permanently, reducing costly regulations, cutting government spending, and making smart use of tariffs to restore American manufacturing.

Read More: The Case for Trump’s Tariffs

Led by Mr. Trump, more Republicans have recently embraced tariffs as a potential source of revenue to finance tax cuts. And in a speech to the Economic Club of New York last week, Mr. Trump brought up tariffs when asked how he would lower child care costs and help more women enter the work force.

Read More: Trump Outlines Economic Ideas, Federal Efficiency Panel

In a speech on his economic policies earlier this month at the Economic Club of New York, former President Donald Trump outlined his plans for reducing prices by cutting back regulations to allow for more construction. But he said that “we also cannot ignore the impact that the flood of 21 million illegal aliens has had on driving up housing costs.”

Read More: Immigration bursts into election housing price debate

Former President Donald Trump was pressed on his plans to address child care costs during an appearance before the Economic Club of New York earlier this month, during which the Republican nominee promoted his fiscal policy as a solution to the rising prices of everyday necessities. When asked by Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani if he would "commit to prioritizing legislation to make child care affordable" if reelected to office, Trump told the panel of business leaders that his plans to increase taxes on imports could "take care" of rising costs like child care.

Read More: Kamala Harris Reveals New Child Care Plan

“To further support the revival of American manufacturing, my plan calls for expanded (research and development) tax credits, 100% bonus depreciation, expensing for new manufacturing investments, and a reduction in the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%, solely for companies that make their product in America,” Trump said Sept. 6 during a speech before the Economic Club of New York.

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Mr. Trump has been making a frequent pitch from the campaign trail. He will “issue a national emergency declaration to achieve massive increase in domestic energy supply,” he told an audience at the Economic Club of New York last week. Then, in his telling, gas prices will fall, dragging other prices down with them.

Read More: Trump Is Making Promises That Many Economists Call Unrealistic

At the White House, President Joe Biden's top aides have circulated plans for a fund to finance national security interests. And former President Donald Trump recently called for a similar state-owned investment fund to finance "great national endeavors" during a campaign stop at the Economic Club of New York.

Read More: The US Is Considering a Sovereign Wealth Fund. Alaska Already Has One.

What does it mean is that I haven’t found 10 hours to watch the first season of “Shogun,” by all accounts a very good series that I would like very much, but I have just in the past week spent at least that much time consuming an incoherent jumble consisting of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce canoodling at the U.S. Open, Donald Trump’s remarks at the Economic Club of New York, a “Gladiator”-themed Pepsi ad, plus countless movie trailers, Peloton workouts, cooking demos, fabric steamer reviews and oh god I could go on.

Read More: Divided Attention