[Harlow:] Welcome back. Donald Trump set tomorrow to unveil his economic plan in his speech in Detroit at the economic club there. Job creation will be a major part of this. It's all about jobs, jobs, jobs in most elections, and certainly in this one it is a big factor. Let's keep talking about this with one of the 13 men on Donald Trump's brand new economic team just unveiled on Friday. David Malpass is a Trump senior economic adviser, former economic official under Reagan- Bush 41, and also formerly the chief economist of Bear Stearns. Thanks for being with me again, David. Appreciate it.
[Malpass:] Nice to be on.
[Harlow:] I want to delve into something Donald Trump said to the "Washington Post" a few months ago. He said, if I'm president, over eight years, if I win, you know, two terms, then I will be able to eliminate the $19 trillion national debt. Every economist that I've spoken with has said that is not possible. Is it possible, since you're one of his senior economic advisers?
[Malpass:] You know, I think it would be hard to eliminate it. That was a long time ago and it was a very hard-fought primary campaign. So, what we're doing now is going into the general election with a big message, which is that America can be a lot better than what it's been with faster growth. You know, the latest growth numbers are just 1.2 percent over the last year. So that's a very poor economic performance. So, one of the things for voters to think about is how are you going to have a better economic future with less of it oriented toward debt? You know, the debt has been going up at a very rapid rate over the last eight years. That's something that's got to stop.
[Harlow:] So just to be clear, that's a no, right? You're saying that's not possible and it was part of his what he said to win the primary? Is that what you're saying?
[Malpass:] Yes, I think we've just got too much debt for it to go away short time period. What we can do is make a lot stronger
[Harlow:] Does it concern you when he says things like that?
[Malpass:] You know, he's not a career politician, so one of the things that's going on is he's speaking to the public, to a lot of the American public who wants a major change from the old system. I really do think the system has been rigged. It's rigged for the corporate interests, for Washington, D.C., for New York, and that's got to change. So, that's going to mean a much stronger financial position for the U.S. government.
[Harlow:] So, let's talk about getting a strong financial position for the U.S. government, because I'm seen it firsthand for the American people. I've seen it firsthand on the road, across the Midwest, across the Rust Belt. I've seen the pain these American families are feeling losing these farm jobs, so I get it 100 percent. Donald Trump talks about putting a 35 percent tariff on goods imported from Mexico and from China, and I just wonder if you think that really will bring those manufacturing jobs back, or does that lead us down a path towards a trade war?
[Malpass:] What I really hope people will do is listen to his speech tomorrow and see whether it whether they think it's going to create a lot more growth than Hillary Clinton's plan. You know, people aren't looking into her plan the way they are into Donald Trump. She hasn't really said how she's going to make this work to raise taxes on small businesses, to raise taxes, really, on a lot of the American entrepreneurial community and still claim there is going to be growth. There seems satisfied
[Harlow:] So is that tariff proposal not in there anymore? Is that what you're saying?
[Malpass:] There is going to be enforcement of the trade laws against countries that are cheating on their on the trade laws. So I think that's an important way to think about how commerce is going to go going forward. There's been go ahead.
[Harlow:] Look, it's important. You bring up Hillary Clinton's plan, right, and she has announced what she would like to see, a huge infrastructure spending plan. Donald Trump has said he wants an even bigger infrastructure spending plan, I believe about twice the size of hers, and yes, it all comes down to how you are going to pay for it. There's no question about that. But I think the question is also being very straightforward with the American people for both candidates, frankly, David, on what jobs are coming back and what aren't? And I just wonder if you think both the leading candidates are being honest with the American people about what manufacturing jobs are really coming back and what manufacturing jobs are not because of globalization and technology.
[Malpass:] Well, I think Trump is being honest that what we've been doing hasn't worked and what he's going to do is going to work better. And specifically that can be done with tax reform, trade reform, energy reform, regulatory reform. Those are all things that Hillary Clinton simply isn't aspiring to. She wants to have the program go in the same direction that it's been going in the past.
[Harlow:] All right. So
[Malpass:] I think that's where the election has to come down to.
[Harlow:] So, David, I want to pull up this screen because you're one of 13 men that has been named to Donald Trump's economic team. This just came out on Friday. And economist Nouriel Roubini, as you know, one of the few economists who predicted the housing crash just tweeted this this morning. "Trump's policy team, a bunch of white men billionaires and supply side nuts who will find policies to help blue collar workers? Laughable joke." OK. That's Nouriel Roubini's opinion. When you look at the team, there's not a single woman on it, there's not a single African- American. Does that bother you?
[Malpass:] Well, the economic program is aimed at making lots of the economy work better for the middle class and especially for minorities and youth. They've been left out of the economic
[Harlow:] It's just not representative of the makeup of America. But it's not representative of the makeup of this country.
[Malpass:] But but are you are you saying that every committee that's established have to have exactly the same racial makeup? Of course, we would like lots of input
[Harlow:] That's a great let me answer that, David. Let me answer that. I think that's a great question.
[Malpass:] Yes.
[Harlow:] And no, I'm not saying that. But what I am saying is that if you look at the data and you look at study after study after study, what we know is that companies that have diversity in the corner office, companies that have diversity on corporate boards, are companies that do better financially. McKenzie, I mean, McKenzie is a company that has high acclaim across the board. 2015 study, they said companies in the top percentile for gender, racial and economic diversity are more likely to have financial returns than are higher than their industry medians. There is no question about the data.
[Malpass:] Right. So and that's absolutely a core part of how you make America better and how you make the economy grow faster. Trump, you know, his business industries have featured have included women at the highest levels. His daughter obviously, Ivanka, has been very involved in creating and thinking about the economic program from the standpoint of how it can make things better for women, for women who are trying to take care of children at the same time that they're working. That's a core part of the economic plan. And I think that's going to work well. That doesn't mean that every committee that's formed, and some of them are formed you know, the campaign is coming together and moving very fast. This is not something that Trump planned to do for a long time.
[Harlow:] What?
[Malpass:] And he's not a career politician. So what
[Harlow:] But are you saying that it wasn't a well thought-out committee because you're speaking to Ivanka's traits and assets, and I sat down and I've interviewed her, and she's an extraordinarily well in business.
[Malpass:] No.
[Harlow:] So isn't that argument even more to have diversity on this committee?
[Malpass:] So this is great committee. This is people that can really contribute to thinking about the economic program and helping create and make it make sense for all parts of the country. All I'm saying is, there's lots of aspects of this campaign. You know, Hillary Clinton kept touting the idea that she had 800 paid staffers in I forget when that was in June, and that's something that simply wasn't happening within the within the Trump campaign. So what we're doing is building very quickly an economic program that will make and announcing the details of the economic program in stages so people will see that there is a better future for the U.S. than what we've been seeing now.
[Harlow:] So, David, very quickly, will we see a woman added, an African-American added, do you think? Would that be a good idea?
[Malpass:] I think there will be lots more people involved in the economic program. I don't know what that what this council is going to have as far as a makeup. Sure, that would be great. And if you have names, I'd love to hear and I'm sure Mr. Trump would love to hear names for people to add. But the key point here is, how do you make America grow faster, and that requires lots and lots of reform and change from what we've been doing.
[Harlow:] David, we're looking forward to the speech tomorrow in Detroit, and thank you for coming on with me tonight.
[Malpass:] Thanks a lot. Enjoyed it.
[Harlow:] All right. We'll be right back.