Can Trump's economic plan please both corporations and working families?

Mr. Trump is set to unveil his economic plan Monday during a midday speech at the Detroit Economic Club.

First Look

Donald Trump is expected to unveil an economic plan that focuses on easing tax burdens for both American corporations and parents who pay for childcare during a speech in Detroit on Monday.

An aide to the Republican presidential nominee told Reuters that Mr. Trump’s plan would lessen the burden on parents because "we don't want it to be an economic disadvantage to have children." Trump’s advisers said his agenda will also focus on free trade, immigration, and regulations.

The speech is one of the candidate's first opportunities to distinguish himself from his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, since she jumped ahead of him in the polls following the Democratic National Convention less than two weeks ago. Trump will likely tout his ability to improve the economy and create more jobs as a strength he will bring to the presidency.

The speech, to start at 12 p.m. Eastern time, will be at the Detroit Economic Club, a traditional venue for political candidates to lay out their economic plans. Trump is also expected to propose stronger protections for American intellectual property, according to the aide, who asked not to be identified. Trump and his advisers have said China hasn’t done enough to uphold intellectual property laws. Trump is also expected to speak about his plan to lower the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent to ease the tax burden on businesses here and encourage American businesses abroad to repatriate. These points were anticipated following Trump’s announcement of his 13-member team of economic advisers Friday.  

The team includes billionaire investors, businessmen, a steel executive, and a fracking tycoon. Notable names include investor John Paulson, who predicted the housing bubble collapse in 2007, Dan DiMicco, the former executive of one of the largest steel producers in America, and Harold Hamm, the oil tycoon.

But the team drew criticism for its abundance of wealthy men, few economists, and lack of women.

Some said the team is out of place with Trump’s promise to support the middle class. A majority of the team are billionaire investors, not experts on issues that face the middle class and women, said one economist. 

“Trump could have signaled his commitment to these issues by publicly surrounding himself with people who have expertise on these topics. He chose not to,” Abby McCloskey, who was the policy director for former Texas governor Rick Perry’s short-lived campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, told The Washington Post.

But Trump’s pitch has long been that the billionaires of the business world know how to save the middle class. “The advisers reinforce that idea,” writes the Post's Jim Tankersley.

The economic agenda Trump will outline Monday falls in line with this thought, according to advisers, aides, and supporters.

Larry Kudlow, an informal Trump adviser and CNBC commentator, said Trump’s speech will be a “a very substantial pro-growth message." Mr. Kudlow wrote on CNBC.com that Trump will pledge to lower marginal tax rates on large and small businesses and on all income classes. Kudlow said he will also propose an increase in the standard deduction for families and special deductions for childcare and the elderly.

Trump’s speech comes as he has fallen behind Mrs. Clinton over the past two weeks. Immediately following the Democratic National Convention, Trump sparred with the bereaved parents of a Muslim American Army captain, Humayun Khan and Republican leaders. Trump consequently lost ground in the polls. An ABC News-Washington Post poll found Clinton ahead of Trump by 8 points, with 74 percent of Americans said they disapproved of how Trump treated the Khan family. A Reuters-Ipsos poll found Clinton leading by less than three points.

Clinton is expected to deliver a speech on her own economic plan on Thursday also in Michigan.

This report contains material from Reuters.