Trump pledges more regulatory rollbacks, touts potential for crypto

NEW YORK — Rolling back regulations was a hallmark of Donald Trump's presidency. He has pledged to up those efforts if he is sent back to the White House next year.

During a speech delivered Thursday at an event hosted by the Economic Club of New York, the Republican nominee pledged to cut 10 regulations for every new rule implemented, upping his first-term policy that at least two regulations be removed before another could be added.

Noting that his administration actually removed five regulatory requirements for every new one added, Trump said he would be able to ramp up regulatory rollbacks "quite easily." He said the cryptocurrency sector was one area in need of regulatory relief. 

"Instead of attacking industries of the future, we will embrace them, including making America the world capital for crypto and bitcoin," Trump said. 

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During his time in office, Trump was "not a fan" of the digital asset class, calling it volatile and valued "based on thin air." He has changed his tune in recent months, calling it "the steel industry of 100 years ago" and going so far as to endorse creating a "strategic reserve" of bitcoin.

Crypto firms and their allies have accused federal regulators of attempting to "de-bank" the asset class in recent years. While the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have not explicitly banned engagement with the industry, proponents say guidelines and supervisory preferences have made it difficult for banks to do so. Similar concerns are at the heart of the ongoing lawsuit from Custodia Bank — a Wyoming-based digital asset bank — against the Fed over access to the federal payments system.

Trump said deregulation would play a key role in addressing the nation's housing supply shortage, estimating that his approach would cut the average construction costs for new homes in half. He said lower interest rates — which he previously said he should have a hand in setting — would also result in significant savings to home buyers. He projects that mortgage rates will fall to around 3% under his administration.

Trump also elaborated on his plan to open up federal lands for "large scale housing construction" and other development.

"These zones will be ultra low-tax and ultra low-regulation. One of the great, really, small business job creation programs, it will be, of all time," he said. "We're going to open up our country to building homes inexpensively so young people and other people can buy homes. You can't buy them anymore. Millions of Americans will take part in settling these safe and beautiful communities, reviving the frontier spirit, and really, as I said, reviving the American dream."

The biggest beneficiaries of Trump's push for regulatory relief would be the manufacturing sector, he said, pointing to the automotive industry several times during his hour-long prepared remarks. He also called for growing the steel and aerospace industries, which he said would bolster national defense.

Trump also said he would create a "government efficiency commission," which would be tasked with conducting a financial and performance audit of the entire federal government to root out waste, fraud and mismanagement of funds. He said the group would be led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whom Trump credits with coming up with the idea for the group.

In addition to deregulation, Trump's economic agenda centers on increasing domestic energy production and lowering taxes, including dropping the corporate rate from 21% to 15%, expanding tax credits for research and development, and making bonus pay 100% depreciable. Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris reportedly plans to increase the corporate tax rate to 28% and would seek a 28% capital gains tax rate on people earning $1 million or more.

Increasing tariffs is also a pillar of Trump's policy agenda. He said the tax on imports could be used to pay for various programs, including child care relief for working families. 

"When you talk about those numbers compared to the kind of numbers that I'm talking about by taxing foreign nations at levels that they're not used to … those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers that we're talking about, including child care," he said. "I look forward to having no deficit within a fairly short time."

During a question-and-answer session, Trump weighed in on the use of sanctions against foreign adversaries. He said he would use sanctions on a limited basis to protect the strength of the U.S.

"I was a user of sanctions, but I put them on and took them off as quickly as possible, because ultimately it kills your dollar and kills everything the dollar represents, and we have to continue to have that be the world currency," he said. "It would be losing a war if we lost the dollar as the world currency. I think that would be the equivalent of losing a war. That would make us a third world country, and we can't let it happen."

On Wednesday, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on 10 people and two entities as part of the Biden administration's response to Russia's alleged influence efforts targeting the 2024 U.S. presidential election.