Donald Trump’s place at the top of the polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination makes him a central figure in the policy debates among the other contenders.
Following in Trump’s footsteps, Republican candidates have shifted their views toward favoring a tough trade-policy stance on China while embracing Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.
But on other subjects, major differences remain.
The biggest crack forms on the issue of Social Security, where Trump and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott say they wouldn't touch benefits, while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley have called for changes that could affect younger Americans.
Here’s a closer look at the 2024 Republican presidential candidates’ proposals on five key economic issues. Bloomberg has included each candidate who has received at least 1% in an early primary state poll.
Donald Trump, former president
Social Security
Although he supported raising the retirement age and privatizing Social Security in the past, Trump broke with Republicans in his 2016 campaign to say that he would not cut benefits. He urged GOP members of Congress to vote against cuts to Social Security or Medicare in the debate earlier this year over raising the debt ceiling.
What he’s said: “I will not be cutting Medicare, and I will not be cutting Social Security.”
Trump tax cuts
Trump signed the 2017 tax cuts into law and frequently cites it on the 2024 campaign trail as one of his signature achievements. He has said that he would extend the expiring tax cuts if elected to a second term. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that extending the tax cuts through 2033 would add $3.5 trillion to the federal deficit.
What he’s said: “We will replace Biden’s tax hikes with the beautiful Trump tax cuts. We have to extend the tax cuts, biggest tax cuts in history.”
Trade with China
Trump has called for imposing baseline tariffs against Chinese goods, revoking China’s permanent normal trade relations status, phasing out imports of essential goods from China over four years, barring US companies from investing in China, revoking federal contracts from companies that outsource to China, and banning China from buying US farmland.
What he’s said: “My agenda will tax China to build up America.”
Banking
Trump signed a 2018 bill that exempted smaller banks from annual stress tests of their assets, which some Democrats argue led to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. He has blamed the failures on high interest rates and environmental, social and corporate governance investing, known as ESG. He has also criticized Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, despite appointing him to the position.
What he’s said: “I was not a big fan of Powell. He was recommended by some people. I didn’t like him, he’s too interest-rate happy.”
Energy
Trump has said he would overturn Biden administration policies promoting the domestic production of electric cars. He has also said he would expand domestic oil and gas exploration and production to reduce dependence on foreign oil.
What he’s said: “We are a nation whose leaders are demanding all electric cars, even though they can’t go far, cost too much, and whose batteries are produced in China with materials only available in China, when an unlimited amount of gasoline is available inexpensively in the United States of America.”
Ron DeSantis, Florida governor
Social Security
As a member of Congress, DeSantis voted for non-binding resolutions in favor of raising the retirement age and privatizing Social Security, but he now says he would not touch benefits for current seniors or support privatization. He says he is open to bipartisan changes that would affect younger Americans.
What he’s said: “When people say that we’re going to somehow cut seniors, that is totally not true. Talking about making changes for people in their 30s and their 40s so that the program’s viable — that’s a much different thing.”
Trump tax cuts
DeSantis voted in the US House in favor of the 2017 Trump tax cuts. He has proposed extending the lower individual tax rates before they expire in 2025 and renewing a temporary measure that allows companies to write off investments in short-lived assets such as machinery immediately. He is also calling for stricter international tax policy that makes it harder for US companies to move assets and cash offshore. He would eliminate the Internal Revenue Service.
What he's said: “We are also going to ensure that tax rates are low, that the tax code is simple and that these policies are permanent so that people are able to make decisions about how to deploy their resources.”
Trade with China
DeSantis calls China “the most formidable adversary we face since the Soviet Union.” He has proposed revoking China’s permanent normal trade relations status, banning the sale of US farmland to Chinese officials, banning imports of goods made with stolen intellectual property, and incentivizing the repatriation of US capital from China with tax incentives. He said he would consider banning TikTok.
What he's said: “They said if you granted China special trading status and put them in the World Trade Organization, that China would become more democratic, that it would guard against forced transfers of technology, that you wouldn't have a mass relocation of American manufacturing to China and that we would be safeguarded against surges of Chinese imports. What actually happened over these past 25 years, China has become more authoritarian, more powerful and more ambitious.”
Banking
As a member of Congress, DeSantis voted for the 2018 law loosening bank stress tests, but he blames recent bank failures on regulators and corporate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, known as DEI. He promises to order the Justice Department to target DEI efforts. He’s called for a Federal Reserve chair who will focus on maintaining a stable dollar, and keeping inflation down, saying he would work to oust Powell before his term ends in 2026, and said he would oppose a central bank digital currency, an idea for a Fed-backed cryptocurrency. As governor, he signed a bill barring Florida pension funds from ESG investing and says he would end its use by large investors as president.
What he's said: "We need to rein in the Federal Reserve. It is not designed or supposed to be an economic central planner. It is not supposed to be indulging in social justice or social engineering. It's got one job: maintain stable prices.”
Energy
As governor, DeSantis vetoed a bipartisan bill aimed at encouraging Florida to buy more electric cars and has vowed to reverse Biden administration policies encouraging electric vehicles. He says climate change is often used as an excuse to advance liberal policies. He has vowed to eliminate the Department of Energy, along with three other agencies.
What he’s said: “What I’ve found is when people start talking about things like global warming, they typically use that as a pretext to do a bunch of left-wing things that they would want to do anyways.”
Mike Pence, former vice president
Social Security
Pence has described Social Security and Medicare as causes of “runaway government spending.” He’s called for allowing younger Americans to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in a private account and said he is open to phasing in a hike in the retirement age.
What he’s said: “If we act in this moment with the support of this generation, we can introduce common-sense reforms that will never touch anyone who is in retirement, or anyone who will retire in the next 25 years.”
Trump tax cuts
As vice president, Pence supported the 2017 tax cuts, pointing to White House figures estimating that a typical family of four earning $73,000 received a $2,000 tax break from them. In his campaign kickoff speech, he called for extending them.
What he’s said: “We’ll champion lower taxes at home and extend the historic tax relief of the Trump/Pence administration and give the American people freedom from excessive federal regulations and get back to repealing two federal regulations for every new rule that we put on the books.”
Trade with China
Pence has called for maintaining tariffs on China put in place by the Trump administration, banning TikTok, ending the country’s permanent normal trade relations status, and creating automatic sanctions if China invades Taiwan, among other things.
What he’s said: “China may not be an evil empire, but under President Xi, it certainly aspires to become one.”
Federal Reserve
Pence would eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He has long called for ending the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate, leaving it to focus on inflation while Congress and the president handle employment. He has criticized activist investors who push for ESG investing.
What he’s said: “We would do well as a nation to return the Federal Reserve to its historic mission of ensuring sound monetary policy and look after the strength of our currency and let elected officials worry about full employment.”
Energy
Pence has called for eliminating the Environmental Protection Agency and expediting permitting for “critical energy infrastructure” such as oil pipelines and solar farms, restarting oil and gas leasing on federal lands and opening the Arctic and offshore areas for oil exploration. He opposes emission standards designed to boost electric cars and would repeal tax credits and subsidies for electric vehicles.
What he’s said: “The time has come for America to return to the policies that will drive American growth and American strength and it begins with American energy.”
Nikki Haley, former UN ambassador
Social Security
Haley has proposed raising the retirement age for people now in their 20s, limiting benefits for the wealthy and using chained CPI, which measures when consumers switch to a less expensive alternative, that would reduce future increases. She has also proposed expanding private Medicare Advantage plans.
What she’s said: “It is unrealistic to say you’re not going to touch entitlements. The thing is you don’t have to touch it for seniors and anybody near retirement. You’re talking about the new generation like my kids coming up.”
Trump tax cuts
Haley supports the 2017 tax cuts.
What she’s said: “The tax cuts of 2017 put more money in the pockets of hard-working Americans.”
Trade with China
Haley would would bar federal, state and local governments from buying Chinese-made drones; ban the Chinese instant messaging and payment app WeChat and the social media app TikTok; halt exports of technology equipment to China; restrict China from buying US land; and limit scientific and technological cooperation with China. She would consider ending normal trade relations with China over the fentanyl crisis, which has been linked to Mexican criminal groups using precursor chemicals from China.
What she’s said: “I think China’s an enemy. I think we have to take them incredibly seriously. And the problem is, you can look at dollars and cents or you can look at a threat to America.”
Banking
Haley criticized the Biden administration for using money from the federal deposit insurance fund for customers of Silicon Valley Bank, calling it a “bailout.” She said depositors should have been paid by selling off the bank’s assets.
What she’s said: “Joe Biden is pretending this isn’t a bailout. It is. Now depositors at healthy banks are forced to subsidize Silicon Valley Bank’s mismanagement.”
Energy
Haley has called for speeding up permitting of oil pipelines, expanding domestic production of oil and natural gas and rolling back “wasteful green energy subsidies and regulations” promoting solar panels and electric vehicles, including new emission standards on cars.
What she’s said: “Do we want renewables? Sure we do, but we want to make sure we have every other type of energy possible.”
Tim Scott, US Senator, South Carolina
Social Security
As a member of the House in 2012, Scott voted for a proposal to raise the retirement age for Medicare, but he now says that he would not touch Social Security or Medicare benefits. He has said he would focus Medicare to improve efficiency and pay for outcomes instead of procedures.
What he’s said: “I will protect Social Security and Medicare for my own mother, and for you too.”
Trump tax cuts
Scott voted for the 2017 tax cuts, which included a provision he championed creating “opportunity zones” that allow investors and corporations to defer capital gains taxes by investing in designated low-income areas.
What he’s said: “I was one of the lead authors for the Republican tax reform bill that slashed taxes for families, brought jobs and investment back from overseas and created my signature legislation, the Opportunity Zones – that’s brought billions of dollars back in the poorest communities that have been left behind.”
Trade with China
Scott supports the “strategic” use of sanctions against China, barring the sale of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve to China and requiring apps like TikTok to be labeled “Made in China.”
What he’s said: “China started this new economic cold war, but America, we’re going to finish it.”
Banking
As a senator, Scott did not vote on Powell’s 2018 appointment as Fed chair under Trump, but did vote to confirm him for a second term in 2022 under Biden. As a member of the Senate Banking Committee, Scott has proposed a bipartisan bill that would allow — but not require — regulators to force some executives at failed banks to return some of their compensation, impose penalties and block them from going to work at other banks.
What he’s said: “We’ve worked to find a common-sense solution to address executive accountability that is tailored to protect the American taxpayer and limit government overreach.”
Energy
As a senator, Scott has cosponsored a bill to repeal a Biden administration tax on crude oil and imported petroleum products.
What he’s said: “The best way to bring down sky-high prices at the gas pump is by unleashing American energy production—not punishing American energy producers.”
Chris Christie, former New Jersey governor
Social Security
Christie supports raising the Social Security retirement age for people now in their 30s and 40s, reducing benefits for the wealthy or setting an income cap, ideas he also proposed in his unsuccessful 2016 run for the GOP nomination.
What he’s said: “When we set up Social Security, they never thought that the average life expectancy would be in the mid-80s. That’s where we are now.”
Trump tax cuts
Christie said he would extend the Trump tax cuts if elected and would keep a cap on state and local tax deductions, known as the SALT cap, which mainly affects residents of high tax states, although he said he might have made it more generous.
What he’s said: “I don’t think that the rest of the country should be paying for the excessive taxes that we had in New Jersey, and New York, and Illinois, and California.”
Trade with China
Christie says he would get tougher on China on issues like intellectual property theft or unauthorized spy balloons. He’s said tariffs would be part of an “overall negotiation” with China, and he would ban TikTok.
What he’s said: “The Chinese have taken advantage of our good nature, stealing our intellectual property, spying on us, causing trouble around the world, unfair trade deals, and it’s time for that to stop now.”
Federal Reserve
Christie says he would keep Powell as Federal Reserve chair when his term ends in 2026 but he thinks he could have acted sooner to raise interest rates to fight inflation.
What he’s said: “I don’t have anything that I think Jay has done horribly wrong. I think that he probably should have started tightening sooner than he did. I think he waited too long on that.”
Energy
Christie has called for increasing domestic oil production to lower gas prices for Americans and put pressure on Russia, arguing that Biden is “a captive of the extreme environmentalists.” He also proposed banning the importation of Russian oil over its invasion of Ukraine. He's said people should not be forced to buy electric cars.
What he’s said: “Joe Biden should announce tonight that he will permit North Dakota, Texas & Alaska to produce as much oil & gas as they can to lower prices for Americans & squeeze Putin & Russia by helping our European allies.”
Vivek Ramaswamy, co-founder and executive chairman of Strive Asset Management
Social Security
Ramaswamy says that proposals to reform Social Security come from “a good place” and it would not make sense to create the system today but he believes the government should honor its commitments.
What he’s said: “If the government has made you certain commitments that you have lived your life and paid in as you have over the last number of years in your life, that you can’t just pull that rug out from under them.”
Trump tax cuts
Ramaswamy has not made public comments about extending the 2017 tax cuts and his campaign didn't respond to requests for information on his position.
Trade with China
Ramaswamy has called for “cutting the cord” with China over trade unless it stops stealing US intellectual property and hacking US companies’ data. He said he would bar Chinese officials from buying land in the US and stop financial donations to American universities.
What he’s said: “Today we depend on our enemy for our entire model and way of life. That’s a risk to our future. That’s a risk to our children’s future. We have to be willing to do the hard things, to make some tradeoffs in the short-run for what’s right in the long-run.”
Federal Reserve
Ramaswamy says the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate on inflation and unemployment has been “disastrous” and he would narrow its mission to preserving the dollar as “a stable financial unit.” He opposes ESG investing and the creation of a central bank digital currency.
What he’s said: “If elected president, I will return the Fed to a narrower scope: preserving the US dollar as a stable financial unit to help prevent financial crises and restore robust economic growth.”
Energy
Ramaswamy is the co-founder of an exchange-traded fund called DRLL that would engage in shareholder activism to encourage oil and gas companies to “drill more and frack more.” He has called for reforming the permitting system to allow more oil, gas, coal and nuclear power in the US and opposes subsidies for electric vehicles.
What he’s said: “No. 1 is unshackle the US energy sector, drill, frack, burn coal, embrace nuclear. And those are words that sometimes in certain circles, you can’t say out loud right now.”
Doug Burgum, North Dakota governor
Social Security
As governor of North Dakota, Burgum signed legislation that ends taxing Social Security income. He’s said the government should honor its “commitment” on Social Security but he could cut red tape to lower costs.
What he’s said: “I believe that when the government, at the state or the federal level, when we make a commitment to someone, then that’s a solemn commitment. We have to honor the people that are in that.”
Trump tax cuts
Burgum, who previously served as founder and CEO of Great Plains Software, praised the tax cuts bill when it passed, highlighting a section that allowed US firms with overseas earnings to repatriate that money.
What he’s said: “There’s so many good things about it, but it starts with virtually every American is going to have more money in their pocket.”
Trade with China
Burgum said that Chinese President Xi Jinping is a “brutal dictator” with a poor human rights record. He has said the US is in a “Cold War” with China, which he would fight economically and militarily.
What he’s said: “We are in a cold war in China, we just won’t admit it. But the way you work your way through a cold war is you win it economically.”
Inflation
Burgum has said he would make the economy the “absolute top priority,” including fighting inflation.
What he’s said: “Every small business owner and every family in our country is feeling the corrosive hidden tax on their lives driven by the Biden-induced inflation.”
Energy
Burgum wants to increase domestic oil and natural gas drilling to make America “energy independent” and fight climate change with carbon capture and sequestration instead of subsidizing electric vehicle production and sales.
What he’s said: “America produces the cleanest and safest energy in the world. Anyone who cares about the environment should want all energy produced here.”
Asa Hutchinson, former Arkansas governor
Social Security
Hutchinson opposes changes to Social Security and Medicare such as raising the retirement age for all workers, noting that there are differences between white-collar workers and manual laborers. He has said increasing legal immigration could offset shortfalls.
What he’s said: “We have got to protect Social Security and Medicare. When you look at the long-term concerns about it, we have got to bring in more workers.”
Trump tax cuts
Hutchinson praised the 2017 tax cuts, especially the section creating tax-deferred “opportunity zones,” which Arkansas pursued while he was governor.
What he’s said: “This tax-deferral program will provide new economic opportunities for many of Arkansas’ communities. This is another benefit to our state from the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017.”
Trade with China
Hutchinson has said the US may have no choice but to engage in a cold war with China. He wants to change from a “China-centric supply chain” for key industries such as health, military technology, pharmaceuticals and critical minerals.
What he’s said: “We’re still going to trade, we’re still going to have those industrial connections, but those critical industries need to move back to more friendly territory.”
Banking
Hutchinson said that “some of the blame” for the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank goes to the Fed’s rate hikes to fight inflation, which he blamed on Biden administration policies.
What he’s said: “I lay some of the blame at the Fed, but it really goes back to the excessive spending we had that caused inflation that led to those rate hikes.”
Energy
As governor, Hutchinson pushed for more electric-car charging stations. He has called for a “pro-growth energy policy” that would expand domestic production from “a variety of sources” to make the US energy independent.
What he’s said: “We don’t want to be dependent on other countries. We don’t want our president going to Saudi Arabia and say, ‘Please, can you produce more oil?’”
Will Hurd, former US representative, Texas
Social Security
Hurd voted against a conservative proposal to raise the Social Security retirement age, reduce benefits for the wealthy and adopt chained CPI.
What he’s said: “With population growth slowing and a growing federal debt, seniors on Social Security and those close to retirement are worried about whether Social Security will be there for them in their twilight years.”
Trump tax cuts
Hurd voted for the 2017 tax cuts, saying they would put “more money in the pockets of hard-working Americans.”
Trade with China
Hurd says the US is in a cold war with China, saying the country is “stealing our technology” and “preparing for war.”
What he’s said: “China is stealing our technology, using our polarization against us, and making a global impact doing so.”
Inflation
Hurd has called for fighting inflation.
What he’s said: “Inflation is bad no matter what the other side says. We’ve got to work together to bend it back with common-sense solutions.”
Energy
Hurd supports boosting renewable energy, using carbon capture technology and promoting the development of nuclear fusion but not restricting oil and gas.
What he’s said: “Climate change is real.”
Francis Suarez, Miami mayor
Social Security
Suarez has not made public comments about changes to Social Security or Medicare and his campaign didn't respond to requests for information on his position.
Trump tax cuts
Suarez hasn’t made public comments about extending the 2017 tax cuts.
Trade with China
Suarez said that the US needs a strategy to “bring back American manufacturing from China.” He has called for protecting intellectual property, supporting the US tech industry in areas like quantum computing and ending China’s permanent normal trade status.
What he’s said: “For the past 40 years, we have been giving China a growing piece of our prosperity. Make no mistake, China is not our partner; China is now our adversary.”
Cryptocurrency
As mayor, Suarez promoted the cryptocurrency MiamiCoin, which has since lost much of its value. He said the next US president should be “pro-Bitcoin” and called for Miami to become the “crypto capital” of the US.
What he’s said: “The next president of the United States has to be a pro-Bitcoin candidate.”
Energy
As mayor, Suarez initiated a plan to make Miami carbon neutral by the year 2050 and has called for Republicans to do more to fight climate change.
What he’s said: “In Miami, our approach is that the environment is the economy. We don’t separate one from the other.”
--With assistance from Laura Davison and Nancy Cook.