Trumpworld is flush with economic advisers pushing different policy proposals for a possible second term — to the annoyance of the Trump campaign.
Top GOP advisers and those likely to gain places in a second Trump administration are jockeying to advance various economic policy proposals, some of which result in disagreement among the cast of characters coming in and out of former President Donald Trump‘s residence at Mar-a-Lago.
Advisers see a second Trump term as a way to undo some of the economic changes made during the Biden administration and also enact policies that would represent a major sea change in U.S. economic and monetary policy on the global stage.
The posturing and public discussions of some of the ideas have angered top staff on the Trump campaign, which is trying to focus squarely on winning the coming election, according to a report from Bloomberg.
The Trump campaign has emphasized that none of the policy proposals discussed in the media are cannon unless they come from Trump or an authorized member of his campaign team.
Alex Conant, a GOP strategist and a partner at Firehouse Strategies, told the Washington Examiner that the campaign watching these policy debates among Trump’s inner circle play out publicly is likely an annoyance.
“As somebody who has worked on a lot of presidential campaigns, whenever the advisers start talking to the media instead of the campaign, it creates headaches,” he said. “You want everything that’s out there publicly to be what the campaign supports and advancing the candidate’s agenda.”
Many supply-side conservatives favor a stronger dollar, and the dollar has remained relatively strong as the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates high to drive down inflation. But other advisers to Trump are plotting a radical departure in economic policy, one that would see the U.S. purposely devaluing the dollar in order to boost exports.
The major player pushing this behind the scenes is former U.S. Trade Adviser Robert Lighthizer, who is a trade hawk and one of the designers of the tariffs imposed on China and elsewhere during Trump’s first term in office.
The logistics of such a policy would be daunting. The Fed’s remit would likely have to change and the Treasury would have to take certain administrative actions in order for such a move to work.
And Lighthizer and his allies would face pushback from other Trump advisers such as Stephen Moore, a Heritage Foundation economist who was once nominated by Trump for a seat on the Fed’s board. Moore recently told the Washington Examiner that he does not think purposely devaluing the dollar is a good move.
“I think that we want a stable dollar,” Moore said. “I think it’s really important for our prosperity. If the dollar is devalued, that means that the value of the dollars that you have is less.
“So that’s not a great thing,” he added.
Trump advisers have discussed overhauls to the Fed and monetary policy more generally.
During his first term in office, Trump at various times was in conflict with Republican Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, whom he appointed. Trump wanted interest rates to be lower. In 2019, the then-president notoriously wrote that his “only question is, who is our biggest enemy” — Powell or Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Some of Trump’s allies, including former administration officials, are working behind the scenes on proposals to weaken the independence of the central bank, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Trump allies also reportedly argue that he would have the ability to fire Powell as Fed chairman, although he would probably remain on the broader Fed board.
The small group has even reportedly worked up a 10-page policy document that outlines how to erode some of the independence of the Fed.
Conant said it is not unusual to have advisers competing over the nominee’s agenda. He said that in this case, what is unusual is for it to play out so publicly.
“It’s unusual to have advisers constantly leaking ideas that the campaign may be considering,” Conant said.
Another idea that has been around for years among some conservative economists is the imposition of a flat tax. Some associated with the idea include Moore, former White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, economist Arthur Laffer, and Steve Forbes of Forbes Media.
Forbes said during an April event in New York City that he has been advocating a 17% flat tax across all income brackets that includes “generous” exemptions, according to Bloomberg. That runs counter to a progressive tax system, that increases tax rates as an individual moves up the income ladder.
There are disagreements more generally on trade policy within Trumpworld. Some, including Lighthizer, support more tariffs, while others, such as Moore, fall more into the free trade bucket, arguing that higher tariffs could ultimately hurt consumers and cause inflation to rise.
The tariff policy proposals are billed as narrowing the trade deficit and supporting domestic manufacturing jobs. The push is also advertised as safeguarding the country’s supply chains, which, as the pandemic exposed, are often reliant on foreign nations for critical goods such as medicines and certain critical minerals.
Conant noted the varied opinions floating around informal advisers and allies of Trump.
“I think Trump’s worldview is much more fluid and therefore you have pro-free traders and anti-free traders, supply-siders and pro-family tax reformers — you just have, like, these diametrically opposed worldviews that are still part of the campaign and whose ideas could become policy if he wins because it is so fluid with him,” he said.
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When contacted for this story, the Trump campaign directed the Washington Examiner to a statement it put out in December 2023 regarding what policy positions should be considered “official.”
“Let us be very specific here: unless a message is coming directly from President Trump or an authorized member of his campaign team, no aspect of future presidential staffing or policy announcements should be deemed official,” the statement from campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita reads.