Trump calls for excluding child-care costs from taxation as he tries to turn the page on a bruising week

Donald Trump on Monday proposed collapsing the federal income tax rate from seven brackets down to three and called for allowing child-care expenses to be exempt from taxation in a speech allies hope will help the GOP presidential nominee turn the page on a tumultuous period some Republicans fear has severely damaged his campaign.

Trump was interrupted every few minutes by protesters for much of his address at the Detroit Economic Club. He took sharp aim at Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the speech, holding up Detroit, which has been devastated by manufacturing job losses, as "the living, breathing example" of her "failed economic agenda."

"I want to jump-start America. It can be done. And it won't even be that hard," said Trump.

Overall, Trump offered few new details behind his economic vision, which he unveiled as a candidate last year. One notable exception was his call to enable families to "fully deduct" all child-care expenses from their taxes. Some such expenses are already deductible; experts say that the additional amounts will largely benefit middle- and upper middle-class families.

The business mogul said he would work with House Republicans and use the same three tax brackets they have proposed: 12 percent, 25 percent and 33 percent. Previously, he had proposed tax brackets of 0 percent, 10 percent, 20 percent and 25 percent.

"For many American workers, their tax rate will be zero," said Trump.

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