Democratic senator Elissa Slotkin said the economic policies of President Trump will make the Americans “pay in each part” of their lives, including tariffs and commercial wars, a increasing national debt and a possible recession.
The American senator Elissa Slotkin said Tuesday that the country needs responsible changes and should be a leading nation committed to an interconnected world, giving the democratic response to the speech of President Donald Trump in a joint session of the Congress.
Slotkin said that the prices of things such as groceries, housing and medical care must go down and that Trump does not have a credible plan to address them.
He added that the economic policies of the Republican president will make the Americans “pay in each part” of their lives, including tariffs and trade wars, a nationally increased national debt and a possible recession.
“President Trump is trying to deliver an unprecedented gift to his billionaire friends,” Slotkin said.
He also quoted the billionaire businessman Elon Musk, who under Trump directs the government efficiency department, highlighting the concerns about the generalized layoffs of federal workers and the access that his team has to the data of the Americans.
“We need a more efficient government. It wants to reduce waste, I will help you do it. But the change does not have to be chaotic or make us feel less safe,” Slotkin said.
He also talked about the heated meeting at the White House last week during which Trump rebuked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for being “irrespectful.”
Slotkin said the meeting summed up Trump's approach to the world.
“Believe to approach dictators like Vladimir Putin and kick our friends like Canadians in the teeth,” he said. “He sees American leadership as a mere series of real estate transactions.”
Slotkin said American democracy has been the aspiration of the world and that it is at risk right now.
Trump is trying to carry out a foreign policy of “United States first”, which has included orders to withdraw from the Climate Agreement of Paris and the World Health Organization, and cut the work of the United States Agency for International Development.
Slotkin said he would prefer to have the United States as a world leader than Russia or China.
“Donald Trump's actions suggest that in the background does not believe that we are an exceptional nation. He clearly does not believe that we should lead the world, ”he said.