Former President Donald J. Trump on Sept. 5 called for establishing a U.S. sovereign wealth fund to pay for infrastructure projects and reduce the national debt.
“We’ll create America’s own sovereign wealth fund to invest in great national endeavors for the benefit of all of the American people,” Trump said during a speech before the Economic Club of New York. “Why don’t we have a wealth fund? Other countries have a wealth funds. We have nothing. We have nothing. We’re going to have a sovereign wealth fund, or we can name it something different.”
Trump said the sovereign wealth fund would be supported through tariffs. The Republican candidate has called for imposing a universal baseline tariff on all U.S. imports of 10% to 20% and a 60% tariff on all U.S. imports from China, according to the nonprofit Tax Foundation.
“We’ll put tremendous amounts of money through all this money we’ll be taking in through tariffs and other intelligent things, and we’re going to have the greatest sovereign wealth fund of them all,” Trump said.
Though he did not provide specifics, Trump added that with the fund’s earnings, the federal government will finance major projects, like highways, medical research facilities and manufacturing hubs.
He added, “This wealth fund will return a gigantic profit which will pay down national debt.”
No information was laid out on how the fund would be established or managed.
“It is many of the people in this room who will be helping to advise and recommend investments for this fund,” Trump told the Economic Club of New York audience.
