Donald Trump's policy positions: What are his political views?

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(NewsNation) — Former President Donald Trump continues to be the clear front-runner leading the polls for the GOP presidential nomination, campaigning on changes to the nation’s immigration system, education practices and economic ties to China, among other issues.

Trump has regularly exceeded 50% in national polls and built up a significant lead over all his opponents ahead of the first ballots being cast. According to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, the former president is the preferred candidate of 49% of self-identified Republicans.

With House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., endorsing Trump in early January, the GOP front-runner has started out 2024 with official support from all members of House Republican leadership. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis both dropped out of the races shortly after the Iowa caucuses and endorsed Trump.

More than 100 members of the House and almost 20 GOP senators also have thrown their support behind Trump, while only a handful endorsed any of his opponents.

A businessman entangled in legal troubles, Trump lost his reelection bid in 2020 to President Joe Biden. His campaigning and leadership have reshaped the GOP and, in some cases, have redefined conservative values, with his signature attacks on political opponents, skepticism toward mainstream media and his effort to create doubt about election results.

The former president has falsely declared the 2020 election was stolen, but there is no evidence supporting that claim.

Trump hasn’t participated in any primary debates so far and did not attend the Dec. 6 debate hosted by NewsNation.

Ahead of the 2024 election, NewsNation is committed to covering the issues that matter most to voters so they can make the most informed choices possible at the polls.

Here’s a look at Trump’s policy positions and political views as he competes for your vote:

Border crisis and immigration

Launch the largest deportation effort in U.S. history, paid for with redirected military funds, Reuters reported
Restore his 2019 “Remain in Mexico” program, which required asylum seekers at the U.S. border to wait in Mexico while their cases are processed
End what he called “catch-and-release” and instead detain all migrants who are caught entering the United States without authorization or violating other immigration laws
Deputize the U.S. National Guard and local law enforcement to help with rapid deportations, according to Reuters
Enact travel bans denying entry to people from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and “anywhere else that threatens our security”
Block Communists, Marxists and socialists from entering the U.S. and send deportation officers to “pro-Hamas” protests
End “birthright” citizenship for children born in the U.S. to undocumented parents
End Biden’s immigration parole program and roll back Temporary Protected Status designations
Try again to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, commonly referred to as DACA
While he was president, about 450 miles of barriers were built along the Southwest border, according to the Associated Press

Trump’s policies on crime

Move homeless encampments out of cities
Give police more authority, deploy the military to fight the nation’s drug problem and impose the death penalty for convicted drug dealers
Deliver record funding to hire and retrain police officers, strengthen qualified immunity and increase penalties for assaults on law enforcement
Send federal prosecutors and the National Guard into high-crime communities, according to his campaign website
As president, Trump granted pardons to 73 people and commuted the sentences of another 70. That includes former staff members and advisers such as Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Stephen K. Bannon and George Papadopoulos

Guns

Hasn’t outlined specific plans regarding firearms if he were reelected in 2024
During his first presidential campaign, Trump positioned himself as a defender of the Second Amendment.
A Trump-era ban on bump stocks took effect in the wake of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting during which 60 people were killed and at least 413 were hurt when a gunman opened fire on a concert
After the May 24, 2022, Uvalde, Texas, shooting at Robb Elementary School, Trump called for “drastically” changing the nation’s approach to mental health and “a top-to-bottom security overhaul at schools across this country” but dismissed calls for further firearm restrictions, the AP reported

Stance on Israel and Palestine

Hasn’t announced plans regarding the Israel-Hamas war if reelected in 2024
Suggested the war will just have to “play out”
Said during an October Fox News interview, “We need to protect Israel, there is no choice”
Has positioned himself as a strong ally to Israel while being critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Told Israel’s intelligence agencies to “step up their game”

Russia-Ukraine stance

Called for a cease-fire in an official campaign statement
Said he could “solve the conflict in a single day”
Trump: “Every day this proxy battle in Ukraine continues, we risk global war”
More generally suggests overhauling the State Department, the “defense bureaucracy” and intelligence services to fire who he called members of a “deep state”

Trump on economy, interest rates and inflation

Promised “lower taxes, bigger paychecks, and more jobs for American workers” by enacting universal baseline tariffs that “reward domestic production” and tax foreign companies
Said he will lower interest rates
Claimed to have achieved the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years — 3.5% with 6.4 million added jobs before the pandemic
During his presidency, federal debt held by the public rose from $14.4 trillion to $21.6 trillion, influenced by Trump’s tax cuts, particularly his slashes to the corporate tax rate, according to the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s FactCheck project

Department of Education shutdown, parental rights, ‘critical race theory’

Said he would shut down the Department of Education and send education-related decision-making back to the states. Curricula, enrollment and other standards already lie with state and local agencies.
Promotes allowing prayer in public schools
Wants to adopt merit-based pay for teachers
Allow parents to directly elect school principals
Push the federal government to give funding preference to states and school districts that abolish teacher tenure
Said students would receive a “patriotic education” that would “teach students to love their country, not to hate their country like they’re taught right now”
Promote “the nuclear family” including “the roles of mothers and fathers” and the “things that make men and women different and unique”
Provide federal funding so schools can hire trained gun owners to act as armed guards at schools
Cut federal funding to schools teaching what he calls “critical race theory”
Open civil rights investigations into school districts that engage in race-based discrimination

Child care crisis

Hasn’t announced plans to alleviate child care crisis if reelected in 2024
Previously proposed cutting the Child Care and Development Block Grant for low-income families by $95 million
Ultimately signed a $2.37 billion increase into law instead, PolitiFact noted

Rural development

Hasn’t outlined how he would improve rural infrastructure if reelected in 2024
His administration’s 2018 federal budget was criticized by Democrats and the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry for cuts to rural housing subsidies and other programs
He announced in 2020 that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) would invest $871 million to improve critical community facilities for rural residents in 43 states and Guam

China and Taiwan foreign policy

“Completely eliminate” U.S. trade dependence on China
Impose universal baseline tariffs on most foreign goods
Adopt a four-year plan to phase out all Chinese imports of essential goods
Establish rules to stop U.S. companies from investing in China
Ban federal contracts for any company that outsources to China
Last year, Trump said he believed a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would happen sooner rather than later because of “how stupid the United States is run“

Fentanyl crisis and opioid epidemic

“Impose a total naval embargo on cartels”
Designate cartels as foreign terrorist organizations
Order the Department of Defense to “inflict maximum damage” on cartel leadership and operations
Seek death penalty eligibility for cartel members and traffickers
Permanently designate fentanyl as a federally controlled substance
Threaten China with “a steep price” unless they work to end the export of fentanyl’s chemical precursors
Create partnerships to encourage companies to provide job opportunities and skills training to people recovering from addiction
Expand federal support for faith-based counseling, treatment and recovery programs
Promised family leave to care for relatives trying to overcome addiction

Climate change stance

Claimed he will end the “Green New Deal atrocities” on his first day if reelected. The measure was never signed into law
Said he would free up stores of liquid gold for energy development
Speed up approval of natural gas pipelines into the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and New York
Exit the Paris Climate Agreement again. Trump previously pulled the U.S. from the agreement, but Biden rejoined upon taking office
Fight litigation from environmentalists

Social security, retirement and benefits for seniors

Told Republicans in Congress not to cut “a single penny” from Medicare or Social Security
Later made comments suggesting he was he was open to cuts to Medicare and Social Security; his team walked these back, and claimed the remarks were taken out of context
Encouraged Republicans to focus their funding cuts on areas of “waste, fraud and abuse” in addition to programs dealing with foreign aid, immigration, climate change and LGBTQ rights, Reuters reported
Said in a campaign statement he would reduce the cost of prescription drugs and health insurance premiums