Former President Donald Trump is expected to unveil a slate of new economic plans Thursday during his remarks at the Economic Club of New York, including proposing the creation of a presidential commission focused on government efficiency first proposed by Elon Musk, a source familiar with his speech told CNN.
The commission would conduct “a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government,” Trump is expected to announce, and would be tasked with finding and eliminating fraud, the source said.
Trump is also expected to outline new proposals aimed at tackling government regulations, including those aimed at energy production, and to vow to withdraw unspent funds appropriated during the Biden administration. His speech will also address his recent embrace of cryptocurrency and reaffirm his plan to place sweeping tariffs on imports.
The Wall Street Journal first reported Trump’s planned announcement, which comes just days before he and Vice President Kamala Harris face off onstage in Pennsylvania for their presidential debate Tuesday.
The Trump campaign, which views the economy as its top issue ahead of the November election, planned the former president’s Thursday address in an effort to contrast the his economic plans with those of Harris, Trump advisers said. Harris has unveiled several economic policies of her own in recent days, including suggesting a lower capital gains tax rate than the one proposed by President Joe Biden and a major 10-fold tax deduction for small businesses.
Economic issues, which posed a notable weak point in polling for Biden before he exited the White House race and endorsed Harris, remain the topic most often cited by voters when asked what matters to their choice for president. An average of 39% of likely voters across the six top battleground states chose the economy as their top issue, recent CNN polling found.
In the days leading up to Trump’s speech, members of the former president’s policy team, including adviser Vince Haley, began reaching out to a series of business leaders and CEOs inquiring about what Trump should focus on during his Thursday address, sources familiar with the calls told CNN. One such conversation focused specifically on taxes and recommendations for being more aggressive toward countering China, one of the sources said.
The proposal to create a new commission aimed at tackling government efficiency follows a recent conversation between Trump and Musk on X, during which the Tesla CEO suggested that the former president should create such a group in an effort to tackle inflation and appoint him to it.
“I’d love it,” Trump responded at the time.
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