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According to most polls, former President Donald Trump is leading President Joe Biden in the 2024 election. And yet, in the midst of all of the chaos surrounding yet another historic presidential election cycle, the one thing that isn't being talked about enough is actual policy; Trump has spent much of the campaign dwelling on the very basket the Democrats seem to have put all their eggs in—his manifold criminal trials.
It's fair for Trump to talk about the veracity of the legal issues surrounding him, but he is mistaken if he thinks that he can coast to re-election on his own grievances. People are hurting, and if he wants to win, Trump needs to clearly articulate what he will do to improve the lives of the average American.
To that end, the Trump campaign should pursue a bold economic vision, one that could transform the country for years to come. He should plot out an aggressive economic plan targeting communities in the highest need and combine them into his version of FDR's "New Deal" to usher in a badly needed era of prosperity. The good news is, Trump doesn't have to look very far for the plan: His campaign introduced three in 2020 which would make an excellent foundation for a Trump New Deal. In 2020, they were called Revitalizing Rural America, the American Dream Plan, and the Platinum Plan.
The Platinum Plan called for increasing access to capital in Black communities, to the tune of $500 billion, as well as benefits for local hires, and increasing the number of Black owned contracting businesses and private equity investment funds with $40 billion in government funding and traditional private investment. The plan also called for connecting HBCU's with government research and development, potentially opening up billions to those institutions. It also called for allowing Black churches to compete for federal dollars for community and social programs, "examining alternative ways to build credit, including rent, utilities and phone bills" and other licensing reforms.
The Platinum Plan is a great place for Trump to start. Black businesses hire more Black people than non-Black owned businesses, and a recent Brookings Institution report pointed out that the underrepresentation of Black businesses is costing the American economy billions of dollars. The Platinum Plan's call for $500 Billion in capital to Black businesses alone would've been transformative for the community and the nation.
The American Dream plan was just as aggressive. That plan called for adding 500,000 Hispanic owned businesses to the economy, increasing access to capital and federal contracting opportunities, and creating 2 million new jobs in the Hispanic American community. It even called for making the Minority Business Development Agency permanent, a near-radical suggestion considering the number of so called conservatives attempting to tear down minority business incentives.
Similar to the Platinum Plan, the American Dream plan also called for giving Hispanic churches "the ability to compete for federal resources for their communities," opening up new resources to those institutions.
The Revitalizing Rural America plan, which was part of the Trump White House's 2021 budget proposal introduced in 2020, would have invested billions into that part of the country. The proposal included a $1.5 billion loan level for rural business, $8.9 billion in farm loans, and $25 billion for a new 'Revitalizing Rural America' grant program "to help areas with broadband, transportation, water and road and bridge projects."
The plan also included $614 million in funding for water and wastewater grants and loans, $5.5 billion in rural electric loans, $690 million in loans to finance broadband infrastructure, among other things.
The Trump campaign would be wise to pursue all of these proposals again. Not only would they change the country for the better, but they are smart politically. Combining the three into one overall New Deal type plan is also a way to unify people in order to get it done.
The three proposals would impact a large swath of the country, as Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and rural Americans, who are overwhelmingly white, would all be well positioned to be full participants in a rebuilt American economy.
It makes sense to specifically target these groups for revitalization, as that is where the greatest need and growth potential is. America cannot continue to grow economically without ensuring that all of its citizens receive access to opportunity.
If they really want to set the country on the right path and ensure that Trump's high-for-a-Republican poll numbers among minorities aren't a mirage, they need to breathe new life into their previous plans, remove the saboteurs on their own side who are trying to destroy initiatives like this, and move forward.
Darvio Morrow is CEO of the FCB Radio Network and co-host of The Outlaws Radio Show.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
