Trump’s latest flip-flop shows his propensity to bend to 'views of wealthy donors': report

In his endeavor to return to the White House, former President Donald Trump is now softening on what is supposed to be his cornerstone policy issue: Immigration. A recent report suggests that this is merely his latest effort to ingratiate himself with potential political donors.

Politico reported Saturday that Trump's latest proposal — expediting the green card process for foreign-born graduates of American universities — is a "flip-flop" from his previous public stances in which he's endorsed severe limitations on immigration. This could be because American CEOs, like those on the Business Roundtable he recently met with, are dependent on immigrant labor for both low-paying jobs and more specialized work that requires a higher level of education.

According to Politico, the former president's waffling on immigration is "plainly a pattern of Trump aligning his political stances with the views of wealthy donors and business interests," though his supporters argue that it just means Trump is willing to "evolve" as necessary.

"[T]here is some room for some thoughtful reflection. He’s hearing from different people, different voices, weighing different opinions. He gathers information about any topic, whether it’s the Vice President or a trade deal, he talks to people," Republican strategist and TikTok lobbyist David Urban said. "He takes input from Steve Schwarzman to the police officer in the receiving line, and so his positions evolve."

Trump's pivot on immigration is merely the latest example of his malleability on policy depending on the donors he's courting. The 45th president of the United States has also reversed previous positions in order to court campaign cash, particularly in the areas of cryptocurrency and banning TikTok. Notably, Trump has said in the past that he viewed cryptocurrency as a "scam" that he criticized for competing with the U.S. dollar, and vowed to heavily regulate it. He's since done a one-eighty and pitched himself to Silicon Valley donors as the "crypto president" during a recent fundraiser in San Francisco.

In shifting his views on immigration, Trump may be signaling that all of his policy positions could be influenced by those willing to write big enough checks. Late last year, the New York Times reported that Trump was planning to deport tens of millions of immigrants in a second term, and has called for setting up massive new immigration detention camps and plans to conduct sweeping immigration raids in major U.S. cities.

And earlier this year, when President Joe Biden urged bipartisan action to allocate more funding to border security and to effectively shut down the border if illegal crossings reached a certain point, Trump bragged about lobbying Republicans to oppose it. This wasn't because Trump disagreed with the bill — which was lauded as the most conservative immigration bill in decades — but because he wanted to get elected and take credit for addressing it himself.

Throughout the 2024 cycle, Trump has been making more overt entreaties to rich donors that have been criticized as "quid pro quo" pitches of favorable policy in exchange for donations. The most notable example is Trump promising donors from the oil and gas industry to undo the Biden administration's green energy policies in exchange for $1 billion in campaign contributions. That particular gesture is now under investigation by the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate Budget Committee.

Trump has also dangled future tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy in exchange for financially supporting his campaign. During a fundraiser at a New York hotel, Trump told prospective donors that if Biden were to be reelected, then the tax cut package he signed into law in 2017 that overwhelmingly benefited the rich would likely sunset.

"[T]axes are going to go up by four times," Trump said, with the Washington Post's Josh Dawsey noting that his estimate was an exaggeration. "You’re going to have the biggest tax increase in history... So whatever you guys can do, I appreciate it."

Click here to read Politico's report in full.