Donald Trump, Hoping to Change Subjects, Says He Will Bring Prosperity

Donald J. Trump sought to move beyond a week of turmoil on Monday, turning his attention to the economy with a major policy address in which he cast himself as a president who could bring new jobs and prosperity to “those who have the very least” and warning that his rival, Hillary Clinton, would be a steward of stagnation.

Joined by his running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, Mr. Trump chose Detroit as his backdrop to unveil plans to overhaul the tax code, tear up trade agreements and rethink America’s energy policy during a speech at the Detroit Economic Club. He reiterated a call to put America first.

“She is the candidate of the past,” Mr. Trump said. “Ours is the campaign of the future.”

He added: “Our opposition has long ago run out of ideas.”

Mr. Trump, who has argued that his background as a real estate developer qualifies him to steer the world’s largest economy, also spent considerable time highlighting how his economic vision differs from that of Mrs. Clinton, warning that she would merely continue the policies of the Obama administration. In Mr. Trump’s estimation, those have failed.

“The city of Detroit is the living, breathing example of my opponent’s failed economic agenda,” Mr. Trump, who was frequently interrupted by protesters, said.”She supports the high taxes and radical regulation that forced jobs out of your community.”

The address represents an opportunity for Mr. Trump to change the subject after a week in which he was embroiled in controversy over his critical remarks about the family of a fallen Muslim soldier and several other miscues. As a result, Mr. Trump’s poll numbers have taken a dive, and some Republicans have started to desert him.

But Monday offered Mr. Trump a chance for something of a reset, allowing him to lay out a broader framework of his plans for the economy. Thus far, he has promised to spur economic growth by cutting taxes, closing loopholes that benefit the superrich, penalizing companies that move their operations to other countries and renegotiating trade deals that do not favor American workers.

Mr. Trump offered new details on Monday, calling for an end to the estate tax, exclusion of child-care expenses from taxation and a 15 percent cap on all business income tax. He is also promising to use executive powers to impose a moratorium on new agency regulations.

On trade, Mr. Trump underscored his opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. He also wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and label China a currency manipulator.

And on energy policy, Mr. Trump said he would tear up the Paris Climate Agreement and halt the United States’ payments to United Nations global warming programs.

Some of Mr. Trump’s economic ideas stray from conservative orthodoxy, and last week he signaled that he might move to the left of Mrs. Clinton in some areas, suggesting that he would spend twice as much as she would on infrastructure.

However, Mr. Trump also seems ready to take cues from Wall Street despite his populist proposals. On Friday, he announced a team of economic advisers that consisted of billionaires, bankers and fund managers. The wealthy are likely to cheer his new suggestion to exempt from taxation all child-care expenses, which he said his daughter, Ivanka, “feels so strongly about.”

Mr. Trump’s mix of policies has worried both big business and economists, some of whom have warned that his ideas would lead to a recession. When he gave a speech on trade in June, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce provided counterprogramming on Twitter and said, “Under Trump’s trade plans, we would see higher prices, fewer jobs and a weaker economy.”

With Michigan being a crucial state for both parties in November, Mrs. Clinton will try not to let her rival get the last word. Her campaign issued a lengthy critique of his economic ideas along with a “Trumponomics” video about how they would create more debt, more outsourcing and more tax breaks for the wealthiest.

The Democratic nominee will be in Detroit on Thursday to deliver an economic speech of her own.

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