Donald Trump on the Issues: The Republican Front-runner's Political Views on Immigration, Guns, Taxes and More
Despite breaking almost every rule in the political playbook on how to run a successful presidential campaign, Donald Trump has maintained a strong lead in the Republican primary race and has a good shot at winning the GOP nomination. His brash bravado, racist rhetoric and indignant insults to his political rivals have only fueled his campaign, crowning him as the Republican front-runner.
The momentum behind his campaign is also being powered by his hardline stance on immigration reform, his threats to "bomb the sh*t out of ISIS" and his vague promise to "make America great again."
Here's where The Donald stands on five key issues:
Immigration
Throughout his campaign, the billionaire has vowed to crack down on illegal immigration through several outlandish proposals. One part of his plan includes forcing the Mexican government to pay for a multi-million dollar wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. According to Trump, this will curb the influx of illegal border crossings.
In order to actually force Mexico to pay for the costly wall, Trump has threatened to either increase fees or cancel all temporary visas issued to Mexican CEOs and diplomats. He has also said he would "increase fees on all border crossing cards - of which we issue about 1 million to Mexican nationals each year (a major source of visa overstays); increase fees on all NAFTA worker visas from Mexico (another major source of overstays); and increase fees at ports of entry to the United States from Mexico," according to his website.
Another part of his plan to stop illegal immigration is to deport the nearly 11 million undocumented residents currently in the U.S. However, he has not given specific details on how he would executive this massive deportation.
The real estate mogul -- who infamously called Mexican immigrants drug traffickers and rapists -- has also proposed to reverse the 14th Amendment and deny American-born children their birthright to citizenship if their parents are undocumented.
Furthermore, he has called for a freeze on green cards and a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S. in the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California last year.
Second Amendment Rights
During his campaign, Trump has positioned himself as a stark defender of the Second Amendment, promising to "empower law-abiding gun owners to defend themselves."
On his website, he adds, "To make America great again, we're going to go after criminals and put the law back on the side of the law-abiding."
According to the former reality TV star, government limitations on military style weapons and magazines are a failure. He has said that law abiding citizens should have the right to carry any type of firearm.
Unlike President Barack Obama, who wants to expand background checks on gun sales, Trump argued that the current background check system is already too burdensome on law-abiding gun owners.
"When the system was created, gun owners were promised that it would be instant, accurate and fair. Unfortunately, that isn't the case today," his website reads.
To fix the broken system, the candidate has proposed that states log data regarding criminal and mental health records.
The Trump Tax Plan
Under the Trump tax plan, there would be four tax brackets instead of seven and significantly lower tax rates for most Americans. As president, Trump has promised to push a tax reform plan in which married couples earning up to $50,000 would pay no income tax. The highest rate, 35 percent, would apply to those making over $477,450.
To pay for the tax cuts, Trump said he aims to reduce or eliminate most deductions and loopholes exploited by wealthy Americans. He would also reduce or eliminate corporate loopholes that cater to special interests, as well as deductions made unnecessary or redundant by the new lower tax rate on corporations and business income. He would also phase in a reasonable cap on the deductibility of business interest expenses.
Veteran Reform Plan
Trump offered a plan to help veterans get accessible health care. One part of his plan calls for the termination of the Veteran Affairs executives responsible for the corrupt system that has prevented vets from getting healthcare.
His goal is to ensure veterans "get the care they need wherever and whenever they need it. No more long drives. No more waiting for backlogs. No more excessive red tape. Just the care and support they earned with their service to our country."
To accomplish this, Trump said he plans to modernize the VA, invest in the needs of female veterans and empower medical professionals to give veterans the best care available in a timely manner.
Climate Change
Trump has declared that climate change is a hoax. Back in 2012, he tweeted that Chinese officials are responsible for creating the concept of climate change in order to suppress the U.S. economy, reports PBS. So it's safe to assume that he plans to take absolutely no action to reverse the effects of climate change or to stop carbon emissions and greenhouses gases from polluting the ozone layer.
Watch Trump explain his immigration plan below:
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