* Trump “vigorously” supported Ronald Reagan when he ran for president in 1980. According to the History Channel’s recent documentary The Making of Trump (available on YouTube), and according to Gwenda Blair’s acclaimed biography of the Trump family The Trumps: Three Generations That Built An Empire (2001, p. 533), Trump supported Reagan in 1980 and 1984. In fact, Trump was in contact with Reagan’s New York campaign, which is how he met Roger Stone (Stone was Reagan’s New York campaign chairman). The History Channel documentary notes that Reagan “vigorously” supported Reagan and borrowed Reagan’s slogan “Make America Great Again” to trademark it for his own campaign.
* In 1988, when interviewed at the Republican convention, Trump endorsed George H.W. Bush and said Dan Quayle had done “a great job” (). And notice how many times in that interview Trump went out of his way to praise Dan Quayle.
* In 1991, Trump defended the Reagan tax cuts, defended tax cuts in general, explained that good tax breaks more than pay for themselves, and even suggested lowering the effective tax rate on the rich, when he testified before the House Budget Committee. Here’s a link to the transcript of his 1991 testimony, so you can read his words for yourself: Donald Trump 1991 House hearing US Economic | User Clip | C-SPAN.org (the transcript is just below the video, and it’s searchable—and you can also watch the video of his testimony). Here’s just one excerpt, where Trump suggests raising the tax rate on the rich but also giving them investment tax breaks that would allow them to lower their effective tax rate to “substantially below” the Reagan level of 25%:
If you read the entire transcript, you’ll see that Trump also said that the Reagan tax cuts were a step in the right direction and that the tax cuts for the middle class and low-income folks should be left intact or even lowered. When he used the word “disaster” in reference to the 1986 tax reform bill, he was talking about the retroactive aspects of the bill and the removal of incentives for the rich to invest. He was not talking about the Reagan tax cuts in general, contrary to what some have claimed. Again, you can see this clearly if you read the transcript.
* Trump, as indicated above, has a long history of supporting tax cuts. In 1987, Trump placed a full-page open letter in the New York Times and the Washington Post that urged, among other things, that taxes be cut, that we end deficit spending, and that wealthy nations like Japan and Saudi Arabia start paying us a fair price for the protection we were providing for them, I quote from his open letter:
* Trump has always supported school choice. In his book The America We Deserve, published 16 years ago, Trump spent an entire chapter arguing for school choice, including vouchers, and for curbing the power of the teachers’ unions (chapter 2). In fact, the chapter is titled “Competition: Saving Our Schools the American Way.”
* It should come as no surprise that Trump has long supported right-to-work laws. Unlike some other conservatives, Trump is not ardently opposed to labor unions, but he has had his share of battles with union bosses and has made it clear that he thinks right-to-work laws are better for workers (Trump: 'I like right-to-work better'). In 2011, Trump defended Scott Walker’s move to greatly reduce the power of public sector unions in Wisconsin ().
* It should also come as no surprise that Trump has a long history of speaking out against excessive government regulation (see, for example, The America We Deserve, pp. 44-58; Donald Trump on Government Reform).
* Trump backed the welfare reform bill that Republicans, led by then-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, finally got President Bill Clinton to sign (The America We Deserve, pp. 59-60; Donald Trump on Welfare & Poverty). That bill resulted in a large reduction in welfare costs and in the number of people on welfare.
* Trump has backed the Keystone XL pipeline ever since it became an issue. Not only has Trump backed the pipeline from the first time Obama began to drag his feet about granting the permits for it, but Trump invested $250,000 in the company that wants to build the pipeline! Left-wing groups have gone nuts over the fact that Trump invested in the company that wants to build the pipeline (see, for example, Disclosure Reveals Donald Trump Has Been Promoting Company He Has $250,000 Invested With).
* Trump has a long record of supporting more oil drilling in general and of supporting more nuclear power plants (Donald Trump on Energy & Oil).
* Trump’s critics have made much of the fact that he has donated to Democratic candidates and groups, but they usually fail to mention that he has also donated to many Republican candidates and groups. Also, Trump has never endorsed a Democratic presidential nominee in the general election. In 1980 and 1984, Trump supported Ronald Reagan. In 1988 and 1992, Trump backed George H.W. Bush. In 2008, Trump supported John McCain. And in 2012, Trump endorsed Mitt Romney. And, in all of those elections, Trump donated money to the Republican nominee.
* In 2010, Trump made robocalls for two conservative candidates for governor: Rick Snyder in Michigan and Scott Walker in Wisconsin (Benjamin Southerland, Donald Trump: A Biography of the Mogul Turned Presidential Candidate, 2015, p. 26).
* In 2011, when Rep. Peter King (R-NY) was holding his very controversial hearings on Muslim radicalization, Trump was one of the few leading public figures who defended Rep. King and the hearings, a fact that Rep. King recently acknowledged in an interview on Fox News (the King segment begins at 17:25).
* As far back as 1999 and 2000, Trump was calling for controlling our border with Mexico and for limiting the number of immigrants, and in 2011 he called for a “triple-layered fence” on the southern border and correctly argued that the anchor baby policy was never the intent of the 14th Amendment (Donald Trump on Immigration and Donald Trump on Immigration).
* When the Senate began to debate the infamous Gang of Eight immigration reform bill in 2013, Trump took to Twitter to denounce the bill and to call on Republicans to oppose it. He sent out over 20 tweets against the bill (May 4, 2016 - AND THEN THERE WAS THE ONE).
* In 1988, when interviewed at the Republican convention, Trump endorsed George H.W. Bush and said Dan Quayle had done “a great job” (). And notice how many times in that interview Trump went out of his way to praise Dan Quayle.
* In 1991, Trump defended the Reagan tax cuts, defended tax cuts in general, explained that good tax breaks more than pay for themselves, and even suggested lowering the effective tax rate on the rich, when he testified before the House Budget Committee. Here’s a link to the transcript of his 1991 testimony, so you can read his words for yourself: Donald Trump 1991 House hearing US Economic | User Clip | C-SPAN.org (the transcript is just below the video, and it’s searchable—and you can also watch the video of his testimony). Here’s just one excerpt, where Trump suggests raising the tax rate on the rich but also giving them investment tax breaks that would allow them to lower their effective tax rate to “substantially below” the Reagan level of 25%:
But the fact is, that 25 percent for high-income people -- for high-income people -- it should be raised substantially with the understanding that if you invest, you can get it down and down substantially below that number. The incentive [to invest] was taken away when the tax rates came down for high-income people.
If you read the entire transcript, you’ll see that Trump also said that the Reagan tax cuts were a step in the right direction and that the tax cuts for the middle class and low-income folks should be left intact or even lowered. When he used the word “disaster” in reference to the 1986 tax reform bill, he was talking about the retroactive aspects of the bill and the removal of incentives for the rich to invest. He was not talking about the Reagan tax cuts in general, contrary to what some have claimed. Again, you can see this clearly if you read the transcript.
* Trump, as indicated above, has a long history of supporting tax cuts. In 1987, Trump placed a full-page open letter in the New York Times and the Washington Post that urged, among other things, that taxes be cut, that we end deficit spending, and that wealthy nations like Japan and Saudi Arabia start paying us a fair price for the protection we were providing for them, I quote from his open letter:
Make Japan, Saudi Arabia, and others pay for the protection we extend as allies. . . . End our huge deficits, reduce our taxes, and let America’s economy grow unencumbered by the cost of defending those who can easily afford to pay us for the defense of their freedom. (Donald Trump - Open Letter to the American People, 1987 - Documents - Online Powerpoint Presentation and Document Sharing - DocFoc.com)
* Trump has always supported school choice. In his book The America We Deserve, published 16 years ago, Trump spent an entire chapter arguing for school choice, including vouchers, and for curbing the power of the teachers’ unions (chapter 2). In fact, the chapter is titled “Competition: Saving Our Schools the American Way.”
* It should come as no surprise that Trump has long supported right-to-work laws. Unlike some other conservatives, Trump is not ardently opposed to labor unions, but he has had his share of battles with union bosses and has made it clear that he thinks right-to-work laws are better for workers (Trump: 'I like right-to-work better'). In 2011, Trump defended Scott Walker’s move to greatly reduce the power of public sector unions in Wisconsin ().
* It should also come as no surprise that Trump has a long history of speaking out against excessive government regulation (see, for example, The America We Deserve, pp. 44-58; Donald Trump on Government Reform).
* Trump backed the welfare reform bill that Republicans, led by then-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, finally got President Bill Clinton to sign (The America We Deserve, pp. 59-60; Donald Trump on Welfare & Poverty). That bill resulted in a large reduction in welfare costs and in the number of people on welfare.
* Trump has backed the Keystone XL pipeline ever since it became an issue. Not only has Trump backed the pipeline from the first time Obama began to drag his feet about granting the permits for it, but Trump invested $250,000 in the company that wants to build the pipeline! Left-wing groups have gone nuts over the fact that Trump invested in the company that wants to build the pipeline (see, for example, Disclosure Reveals Donald Trump Has Been Promoting Company He Has $250,000 Invested With).
* Trump has a long record of supporting more oil drilling in general and of supporting more nuclear power plants (Donald Trump on Energy & Oil).
* Trump’s critics have made much of the fact that he has donated to Democratic candidates and groups, but they usually fail to mention that he has also donated to many Republican candidates and groups. Also, Trump has never endorsed a Democratic presidential nominee in the general election. In 1980 and 1984, Trump supported Ronald Reagan. In 1988 and 1992, Trump backed George H.W. Bush. In 2008, Trump supported John McCain. And in 2012, Trump endorsed Mitt Romney. And, in all of those elections, Trump donated money to the Republican nominee.
* In 2010, Trump made robocalls for two conservative candidates for governor: Rick Snyder in Michigan and Scott Walker in Wisconsin (Benjamin Southerland, Donald Trump: A Biography of the Mogul Turned Presidential Candidate, 2015, p. 26).
* In 2011, when Rep. Peter King (R-NY) was holding his very controversial hearings on Muslim radicalization, Trump was one of the few leading public figures who defended Rep. King and the hearings, a fact that Rep. King recently acknowledged in an interview on Fox News (the King segment begins at 17:25).
* As far back as 1999 and 2000, Trump was calling for controlling our border with Mexico and for limiting the number of immigrants, and in 2011 he called for a “triple-layered fence” on the southern border and correctly argued that the anchor baby policy was never the intent of the 14th Amendment (Donald Trump on Immigration and Donald Trump on Immigration).
* When the Senate began to debate the infamous Gang of Eight immigration reform bill in 2013, Trump took to Twitter to denounce the bill and to call on Republicans to oppose it. He sent out over 20 tweets against the bill (May 4, 2016 - AND THEN THERE WAS THE ONE).
