Just days before his face-to-face debate with President Joe Biden in June, Donald Trump sat down for an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek. The former president discussed a range of topics from green energy and diet soda to foreign policy and his tax plan. He also suggested JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon as a potential Treasury Secretary.
Trump’s Opposition to Green Energy Continues
Donald Trump has long been vocal about his opposition to clean energy. Known for his disdain for wind energy and windmills, Trump reiterated his stance during the interview.
“We have more of the real energy, the energy that works,” Trump told Bloomberg. “Wind does not work.”
Trump pledged to dismantle offshore wind projects on “day one” and has often made unfounded claims, such as windmills causing cancer and impacting marine life negatively.
During the interview, Trump criticized wind energy as “unbelievably expensive” and overly dependent on government subsidies. According to the Energy Information Administration, wind and solar projects received 94% of the $15.6 billion federal renewable electricity-related subsidies in 2022.
In 2023, offshore wind energy costs $143 per megawatt-hour in the U.S., compared to $48 for onshore wind and $59 for solar. These costs are juxtaposed with coal at $101 and natural gas at $45 per megawatt-hour.
Despite his criticisms, Trump mentioned he has “no objection” to electric vehicles, praising Tesla’s Elon Musk. However, in the past, Trump has claimed electric cars would harm the U.S. auto industry, and his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, has called the push for EVs a “scam.”
Trump’s Plan to Lower Corporate Tax Rate to 15%
A key component of Trump’s economic strategy, often labeled as Trumponomics, is to incentivize corporations to build and grow in the U.S.
Trump has consistently promised to lower corporate taxes and told a group of business leaders that he would cut the corporate tax rate to 20%. However, he told Bloomberg that he prefers a 15% rate, though it may be challenging to achieve.
“Fifteen would get us down to being about the lowest. Look, when I did those tax cuts, this place started to boom,” Trump said, referring to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which reduced the federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%.
The act allowed at least 87 firms to pay significantly lower tax rates, with some paying less than 5% between 2018 and 2022, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Twenty-three firms paid zero or less federal income tax during that period.
Trump reiterated claims that his tax cuts spurred Apple to reinvest billions into the U.S. economy. However, Apple CEO Tim Cook once noted that much of their $350 billion five-year plan would have occurred regardless of the tax reform.
With parts of the TCJA set to expire in 2025, Trump has promised to make the tax cuts permanent, reintroduce tax cuts for individuals and small businesses, and reduce business regulations if re-elected.
“Low interest rates and taxes, low taxes, tremendous incentive to get things done, and to bring business back to our country,” Trump said of his economic approach. “We have to bring business back to our country.”
Trump’s Views on Taiwan and U.S. Foreign Policy
In his Bloomberg interview, Trump also expressed his views on foreign policy, highlighting his relationships with leaders from Russia, China, and Saudi Arabia. While he expressed respect for the people of Taiwan, he suggested that Taiwan should pay the U.S. for its defense.
“I think Taiwan should pay us for defense. You know, we’re no different than an insurance company. Taiwan doesn’t give us anything,” Trump stated.
His running mate, Vance, echoed concerns about China, calling it the “biggest threat” to the U.S. Vance previously commented that the U.S. needs to prioritize its conflicts, mentioning limited capacity to support Ukraine against Russia, Israel against Hamas, and Taiwan against potential Chinese aggression.
Trump criticized the U.S. for allowing Taiwan to dominate the semiconductor market. Taiwan holds 92% of the world’s semiconductor manufacturing capacity, largely due to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
After Trump’s remarks were published, TSMC stock dropped by more than 5% in pre-market trading. TSMC, a major supplier to companies like Nvidia and Apple, was recently awarded $6.6 billion to develop its first major U.S. chipmaking hub in Arizona. Trump also criticized the Biden administration’s allocation of federal funds to foreign chipmakers through the CHIPS and Science Act.