# Is Trump part Democrat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 3, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675 "2017-04-03T19:39:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Silver\_lining](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Silver\_lining](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_lining)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/1 "2017-04-03T19:39:27Z")
He seems that way to me. Yet the press hardly sees it that way. Trump must be the most pro-USA worker President in years. He won the labor vote as a Republican, which is not easy to do since the Democrats always win the labor vote. He’s also a big government type of builder, for 1 trillion dollars on the USA infrastructure, and for a border wall to prevent illegal immigration and drugs. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/2 "2017-04-03T19:42:10Z")
Trump is a chameleon. He will say anything that he thinks people want to hear. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/3 "2017-04-03T19:47:33Z")
trump was “a Democrat” to the degree that he needed be to do business in NY and not a millimeter more. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_lining](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Silver\_lining](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_lining)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/4 "2017-04-03T19:48:56Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > Trump is a chameleon. He will say anything that he thinks people want to hear. He means action with the wall for sure. It remains to be seen if he’s serious about his trillion dollar infrasctrue plan, but I think there are some Democrats that will get on board with this idea. My take on Trump is he says what he means, unless he’s baited, then he goes a bit overboard. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/5 "2017-04-03T19:48:58Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > He seems that way to me. Yet the press hardly sees it that way. > > Trump must be the most pro-USA worker President in years. He won the labor vote as a Republican, which is not easy to do since the Democrats always win the labor vote. > > He’s also a big government type of builder, for 1 trillion dollars on the USA infrastructure, and for a border wall to prevent illegal immigration and drugs. He lost a court case for underpaying illegal workers, he buys Chinese steel and aluminum, he has said the minimum wage is too high, his first pick for Labor Secretary want’s to eliminate workers in favor of robots, Trump’s products are all made overseas with no plan to bring them here, his infrastructure plan is mainly for businesses to choose a project with potential for profit, not by what is needed doing, the wall will not keep out the workers who are coming here for jobs Americans won’t do(assuming the wall is ever built) and the wall won’t stop drugs. And that’s barely scratching the surface. That’s just ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/6 "2017-04-03T20:29:13Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > He seems that way to me. Yet the press hardly sees it that way. > > Trump must be the most pro-USA worker President in years. He won the labor vote as a Republican, which is not easy to do since the Democrats always win the labor vote. > > He’s also a big government type of builder, for 1 trillion dollars on the USA infrastructure, and for a border wall to prevent illegal immigration and drugs. The “trillion dollar infrastructure plan” isn’t a trillion dollars of US government spending. Rather, it’s a package of ~$100 billion in tax credits for private investors and developers. Want some more toll bridges? And consider who benefits from that… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/7 "2017-04-03T20:34:55Z")
Trump is very much in favor of people working. He just doesn’t want them to get paid for that work. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/8 "2017-04-03T20:38:21Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > He means action with the wall for sure. > > It remains to be seen if he’s serious about his trillion dollar infrasctrue plan, but I think there are some Democrats that will get on board with this idea. > > My take on Trump is he says what he means, unless he’s baited, then he goes a bit overboard. If fish were as easily “baited” as Trump, there’d be an end to hunger. 🙂 So far, Trump has “meant what he said” when it came to cracking down on immigrants, nominating a right-wing Supreme Court Justice, rolling back environmental protections, and trying to defund Planned Parenthood and destroy the Affordable Care Act. Has he followed through on _any_ promises that the Democrats could remotely support? Trump’s too ideologically incoherent to be an ideological purist. But given the right-wingers surrounding him, I’m not expecting him to pursue any liberal or even center-left agenda items any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/9 "2017-04-03T20:38:32Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > The “trillion dollar infrastructure plan” isn’t a trillion dollars of US government spending. Rather, it’s a package of ~$100 billion in tax credits for private investors and developers. How so? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/10 "2017-04-03T20:39:12Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > He means action with the wall for sure. Does he? He says he’s going to produce a lot of things that he doesn’t end up doing. Is there any reason to think the wall is any different? > [@](#): > > It remains to be seen if he’s serious about his trillion dollar infrasctrue plan, but I think there are some Democrats that will get on board with this idea. The Dems already made a proposal for an infrastructure plan. Trump didn’t seem interested. And he’s already said hes pushing any plan back to 2018, which seems pretty close to just saying he’s abandoning it. In anycase, neither proposal seems important enough for him to actually get in this years legislative schedule. Honestly, I’m pretty cynical about Trump and even I was pretty surprised at how fast he threw out the whole populist schtick once he’d won the election. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/11 "2017-04-03T20:41:07Z")
Trump used to support single payer Healthcare too. However I think at core Trump has a romanticized view of what ails American workers. He blames their problems on government regulation, trade and immigration. Those things play a role but technology changes, automation and income inequality are also huge factors, arguably bigger ones. I do wonder why Trump seems to care about some idealized 1950s America where high school educated whites could get good paying jobs with benefits. What does he get out of that? Also the dems would work with Trump on infrastructure if Trump had an infrastructure plan of using tax revenue to advance needed infrastructure projects. Instead Trump is pushing tax credits and private infrastructure we may not actually need. Dems aren’t going to support that. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/12 "2017-04-03T20:55:10Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > How so? [From here.](http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/314095-trumps-infrastructure-plan-what-we-know) (January) > [@](#): > > Private sector is preferred funding tool > > Trump and his team have shown a strong preference for drawing in money from the private sector to pay for infrastructure priorities. > > The idea is to offer financial incentives to private companies that want to back transportation projects. > > \*\*Under that model, known as a “public-private partnership,” firms would bid on a project, build and maintain it for a set amount of time and recover costs through tolls or set state payments. > \*\* > Trump has argued that it’s cheaper and quicker when private investors are in charge, as opposed to the federal government. > > **One proposal that Trump has floated would provide $137 billion in federal tax credits** to companies that finance transportation projects, which he claims would unlock $1 trillion in investment over 10 years. The problem is that projects that won’t generate profits might not/won’t get done. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/13 "2017-04-03T21:09:49Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I do wonder why Trump seems to care about some idealized 1950s America where high school educated whites could get good paying jobs with benefits. What does he get out of that? Well, two things. 1. Votes. He realized that there’s a group of Americans who feel disenfranchised by what’s changed in America. They feel that no one listens to them and their needs, and that America’s been heading in the wrong direction for decades. Trump told them what they wanted to hear, and they voted for him. 2. It seems likely (to me, anyway) that Trump likes the idea of a return to a culture where white guys can get away with being white guys, and that women and minorities “know their place.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/14 "2017-04-03T21:27:29Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > Trump is a chameleon. Trump is first and foremost, a pathological liar. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/15 "2017-04-03T21:41:19Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > Is Trump part Democrat? No take-backs. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/16 "2017-04-03T21:44:51Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > Trump must be the most pro-USA worker President in years. Tell us what he’s done, not just talked about and promised, but actually done for American workers. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/17 "2017-04-03T21:44:52Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It seems likely (to me, anyway) that Trump likes the idea of a return to a culture where white guys can get away with being white guys, and that women and minorities “know their place.” I don’t think Trump cares about white guys any more than he cares about any one else. In my opinion, Trump divides all of the universe into three levels: 1. Donald Trump 2. People and things which are useful to Donald Trump 3. People and things that don’t matter ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/18 "2017-04-03T22:02:41Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > Trump must be the most pro-USA worker President in years. Which is why he used Chinese steel in his _own_ construction projects. Guess he must have believed that US steelworkers would prefer to be jobless–what a thoughtful guy! > [@](#): > > Throughout his campaign, Trump has maintained that some controversial decisions for his companies amounted to nothing more than taking actions that were good for business, and were therefore reflections of his financial acumen. But, with the exception of one business that collapsed into multiple bankruptcies, **Trump does not operate a public company; he has no fiduciary obligation to shareholders to obtain the highest returns he can.** His decisions to turn away from American producers were not driven by legal obligations to investors, but simply resulted in higher profits for himself and his family. [How Donald Trump Ditched U.S. Steel Workers in Favor of China - Newsweek](http://www.newsweek.com/how-donald-trump-ditched-us-steel-workers-china-505717) ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/19 "2017-04-03T22:08:59Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > If fish were as easily “baited” as Trump, there’d be an end to hunger. 🙂 > Has he followed through on _any_ promises that the Democrats could remotely support? He did issue an executive order to stop the TPP. I’ll give him credit for that. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2017, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675/20 "2017-04-03T22:18:15Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > He did issue an executive order to stop the TPP. I’ll give him credit for that. [Trump executive order pulls out of TPP trade deal](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38721056) > [@](#): > > The 12-nation trade deal was a linchpin of former President Barack Obama’s Asia policy. > > “Great thing for the American worker what we just did,” said Mr Trump as he dumped the pact with a stroke of a pen. > > **Mr Trump’s executive order on TPP was largely symbolic since the deal has not been ratified by a divided US Congress**. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-part-democrat/783675.md?page=2)