It’s official, Trump gets party nod to run for president again
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump, who was on Monday formally nominated by the Republican Party to seek a second term, has vowed to “prohibit” American companies from replacing local workers with lower-cost foreign workers, and remain firm on his hardline position on immigration. “We have to win. This is the most important election in the history of our country,” Trump said in an unannounced appearance at the convention, based in Charlotte, after securing the party nomination for the November 3 election. He will formally deliver the acceptance speech on Thursday from the White House.
50-POINT AGENDA
The Trump campaign unveiled a 50-point agenda titled “Fighting for You”, which also promises to “end reliance” on China by encouraging American companies to bring back operations and continue the US president’s “America First” foreign policy of ending wars and ensuring allies “pay their fair share” towards common defence efforts.
The agenda was released on the eve of the four-day Republican Party convention that nominated Trump on Monday morning for the White House run, with vice-president Mike Pence as his running mate. They are up against Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate, and his running mate, Kamala Harris.
The agenda builds on the “incredible achievements” of Trump’s first term in office, the campaign said in the announcement, and added that it will reflect his “optimism and certainty in America’s greatness”.
It’s a bare bones announcement, that lists out Trump’s 50 second-term priorities, which he will spell out in his acceptance speech on Thursday, the final day of the convention, and on the campaign trail.
“Prohibit American Companies from Replacing United States Citizens with Lower-cost Foreign Workers,” the agenda said in a section headlined “End illegal immigration and protect American workers”, which indicates a hardening of Trump’s position on immigration.
It hits at the core of the outsourcing industry in the US that has supported IT giants from many countries, and include TCS, Infosys and Wipro from India. Trump has been turning up pressure on the outsourcing industry - centred around H-1B non-immigrant short-term work visas - from practically the first quarter of his presidency.
Trump has suspended all legal immigration - green cards - and short-term non-immigration work visas, such as H-1B, till the end of December to ensure that millions of Americans laid off because of the Covid-19 pandemic have a first shot at jobs that become available.
Other elements of the agenda on immigration were a continuation of the current policies, such as ensuring that new immigrants don’t need state help, and blocking illegal immigrants from taxpayer-funded programmes and free college tuition.
‘ENDLESS WARS’
Ending “endless wars” and getting “allies to pay their fair share” would be Trump 2.0’s “America First foreign policy”, which continues the emphasis on bringing home troops from Afghanistan and making NATO allies ramp up their respective defence efforts.
Other foreign policy priorities include wiping out global terrorism that threaten Americans, and build a “great” cybersecurity defence system and missile defence system.