Is the GOP A Working Class Party? Nope.
Led by billionaire Donald Trump and former venture capitalist J.D. Vance, the Republican Party now proclaims itself the party of working-class people. Vance, referring to himself as a “working-class boy,” hit this theme hard in his speech at the Republican Convention. Vance lauded Trump as “a leader who’s not in the pocket of big business, but answers to the working man, union and non-union alike. A leader who won’t sell out to multinational corporations.” He went on to lament lost jobs, stagnant wages, and closed factories, which he attributed to free trade, corporate outsourcing, and illegal immigration.
The convention featured an address by Teamster President Sean O’Brien, once an unthinkable choice for Republicans. Following the convention, Republican Senator Josh Hawley published a piece in Compact magazine titled “The Promise of Pro-Labor Conservatism.”
How seriously should we take this turnabout from a party once looked upon as home to the country-club set? In short, the answer is not much. This is evident by looking at Trump’s record during his stint as president as well as his promises for a second term.
Referring to his cabinet, Trump declared in 2016: “I want people who have made a fortune.” He delivered, as one lineup of cabinet officials had a net worth of $3.2 billion. Trump’s affinity for the rich was also evident from his 2017 tax cuts, which will save the top 1% of earners an average of more than $60,000 in 2025, compared with average savings of only $500 for the bottom 60% of earners. Trump has suggested that he would double down on this generosity toward the rich by cutting the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15% in a second term.
On the other hand, Trump’s National Labor Relations Board made rulings that made it harder for unions to organize and curtailed union bargaining rights. In 2017, Trump also tried, but failed, to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which provides health benefits to 40 million Americans.
A Trump-appointed judge recently blocked a Biden Administration rule that would have outlawed non-compete clauses in employment contracts. Meanwhile, Trump-appointed justices on the Supreme Court have weakened the power of Federal agencies to enforce workplace health and safety regulations.
Looking forward, Project 2025, a blueprint for Trump’s next term compiled by the Heritage Foundation and other groups closely associated with Trump, proposes to revoke civil service protections from vast swathes of the Federal workforce, allowing workers to be fired at will and replaced by political loyalists. This greatly expands upon a similar executive order issued near the end of Trump’s first term but reversed by Joe Biden.
Trump has promised a 10% across-the-board tariff increase on imported goods and a 60% increase on Chinese goods. Since importers would simply pass on the increased costs to consumers, economists estimate that increased tariffs would cost Americans $1700 per year, on average.
Donald Trump’s marquee issue has been immigration, which Trump has proposed to curtail. Trump claims that immigrants – especially illegal immigrants – steal jobs from American workers and lower wages for unskilled work. J. Daniel Kim of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School has summarized the results of his recent co-authored study: “What we find … is that immigrants act more as job creators than they act as job takers in the United States.” Immigrants are more entrepreneurial than native-born Americans. Less-skilled immigrants often take jobs that few native-born Americans want. Amidst a period of high levels of both legal and illegal immigration, the unemployment rate has hit record lows and wages have grown faster than prices, with the biggest gains at the bottom of the pay scale. By expanding the workforce, immigration stimulates economic growth, increasing the pie for everyone.
Trump plans to deport 10 million undocumented residents in a second term, 79% of whom have been in the United States for at least 12 years (and 44% for more than 20 years). Aside from the unthinkable human toll from mass deportation, the economic effects would be disastrous. The construction industry would lose 1.5 million workers, the hospitality industry 1.1 million workers, and the agricultural sector 283,000 workers. Overall, Trump’s plan would eliminate 4.5% of the U.S. workforce, which could produce a 9% drop in national income while also costing one million jobs among native born Americans.
Mass deportation would force up prices on many goods. Trump’s immigration policies combined with tax cuts for the wealthy and higher tariffs would create tremendous inflationary pressures.
None of this benefits American workers. Whatever Trump and Vance’s new Republican Party may be, it is not pro-labor.