Key takeaway from Great Again by Donald Trump

When you draw a line in the sand if someone else crosses the line enforce repercussions
When laws are not enforced them, they don’t exist
Plays cards close to vest to keep opponents second guessing
Values loyalty highly
find the best people to get the job done and then watch over them
The side that needs the deal most should walk away with the least

Long term rivals: China and Russia
Build up strength of US military as a form of deterrence to avoid necessity for deployment
Only intervene when US economic interest is served as opposed to a purely ideology driven approach
Countries that benefitted from US military aid should pay for service
- South Korea
- Germany
- Saudi Arabi
- Japan
- Britain
On the middle east
- Iran should not be trusted
  - their nuclear research program
  - their motivation to take over the entire Middle East
  - their motivation to wipe out Israel
- See Israel as an ally. Sees the need to ensure balance of power amongst players within the middle east
- The removal of Iraq has a net destabilizing effect on the region
Keep oil prices in check
- to keep ISIS oil revenue from Iraq and Syria in check
- To insulate the US economy from OPEC’s price setting ability
- To become the largest oil producer in the world so as to overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia so as to keep their economic influence in check

Believe in escalating use of sanctions to force other countries to table for negotiations
US Trade deficit is concerning
On China
- Have deep respect for the Chinese who are great businessmen
- largest holder of American debt
- Chinese stock markets have too much influence on US stock markets
  - 2015 Chinese stock markets collapse caused US Dow Jones to plummet 1,000 points
- Sees China as more dependent on US than US is on China. To utilize this as a leverage
Discourage other countries from devaluing their currencies against the USD
- Japan
- China
- Mexico
Rectify faulty trade arrangements
- China
- Mexico
- Russia
- Iran
- Saudi Arabia
Willing to utilize economic strength (American consumer) to reward countries that cooperate and punish those that don’t

Believes in a progressive individual taxation system to provide more liquidity for the lower to middle class
Encourage companies to bring jobs and manufacturing back to the US
Streamline and lower corporate taxation to encourage companies to bring foreign reserves back to the US
Reduce corporate taxation to encourage growth of local companies and manufacturing
To reduce over-regulations to increase growth rate of corporate activities
Build up of military encourages GDP growth
Build up of infrastructure encourages GDP growth and facilitates commerce
On Oil
- To build up the US Shale oil industry
- Create more jobs domestically

decentralize control of the educational system to the districts to enforce standards
mistrust teacher unions’ ability to make sure only the best teachers get the job

On reporters
- mistrust political reporters as they generally misrepresent and bias towards sensationalization
- trust financial reporters because dollars and cents are at stake
- build relationship with them to generate free publicity for his ideas
Views interest of politicians as mis-aligned to interest of people

Wants to retain the best foreign talents within the country and make it easy for them to contribute
To stem out illegal immigration so as to keep out unqualified immigrants
To remove the USD1billion/yr cost of keeping foreign criminals in US prison
Stop the tide of refugee immigrants to reduce the cost and repercussions of supporting them

2nd Amendment, gun rights needs to stay intact so that citizens can keep the state in check and have a way of protecting their family
People with mental health should not be allowed to own guns
Over regulation is ineffective, criminals do not get their guns via normal routes