24/7 Wall St. Insights

• The 2024 election could decide the future of the country for generations.
• It’s possible that the Republicans could win both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
• Also: 2 Dividend Legends to Hold Forever

The last four years have been one of the most challenging periods for citizens of this great nation since the Vietnam era. This started with a hotly contested presidential election in 2020 marred by riots across the country in the summer of that year. Many Americans currently feel divided and sense that the damage inflicted over the last four years may be irreparable.

The United States has endured countless difficult periods since 1776, and there is no reason to think that these tough times can’t be tamed as well. With President Biden stepping away from running for a second term, this is the first time an incumbent has declined to run since Lyndon Johnson did in 1968; the stage could be set for an epic battle in the fall.

Since most pundits and political observers feel that the policies of a Kamala Harris administration would likely mirror those of the last four years under President Biden, we were very interested to see what top Wall Street strategists felt about Donald Trump’s direction in the future as he attempts to be the first President since Grover Cleveland to win a second term, after being out of office for four years.

Jefferies Dr. Aniket Shaw, the firm’s Managing Director and Global Head of Sustainability and Transition Strategy, recently released a list of ten policies he and his team feel could lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. With 220 executive orders in his first term and some significant disagreements between the former President and the current administration on the country’s direction, some of the policies could very well be implemented on day one.

Regardless of where you stand politically, this year’s election will have ramifications for the country for decades. Here are Jefferies’s ten potential policies with some added color to look for if Trump wins back the White House.

1. End benefits for undocumented immigrants and ramp up deportation and detention efforts. Public benefits could be cut.
2. Align tariff rates with those of the trading partners. There should be 10% across-the-border tariffs, 60% for China, and a matching tax on trading partners.
3. Restore an executive order to remove two existing regulations for every one new regulation. Expect further weakening of Federal agency authority.
4. Repeal the EPA’s electric vehicle standards. The EPA has required that new vehicle sales have to be 56% EV by 2032. In addition, EV credits could also be repealed. This as major car makers slow EV production and expansion as demand slows.
5. Lower drug prices and expand domestic manufacturing of essential drugs. Many worry about the amount of medications used here that are made in China and elsewhere.
6. End the Russian war against Ukraine. Despite no specifics, Trump is thought to have a “detailed plan” to end the fighting.
7. Order federal agencies to identify parts of their respective budgets to be saved. Jefferies feels this could be a step to allow Congress to rescind excess funding to federal agencies, an attempt to bring back the 1974 Impoundment Control Act.
8. Transfer education authority from the Department of Education back to the states. Trump feels states and local communities are far better positioned to help their students. Grades and test scores across the nation seem to back this up.
9. Restore Schedule F and eliminate equity policies in federal agencies. Schedule F appointments convert civil offices into politically appointed positions, which Jefferies feels could affect tens of thousands of federal employees.
10. Ban censorship of speech. In his first term, the Trump administration presented three executive orders promoting freedom of speech and religion and restricting promotions, marketing, and financial support for online platforms that censor content.

∴

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.