Trump Main Goals And Problems

On taxes, he would get plenty of help from Republicans in Congress, who have been laying the groundwork for a tax-code overhaul that would lower rates and close loopholes. But they will encounter fierce resistance from home-owners, businesses and other interest groups that benefit from current tax breaks.

Trump's promise to protect entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare will rile fiscal conservatives, who worry they will swamp the federal budget in the decades to come. But those programs are popular with the American public.

WALL STREET REGULATION

Trump has promised a "dismantling" of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law enacted following the financial crisis, but has given few details.

Both Trump and the Republican Party have called for re-instating Glass-Steagall, the 1930s-era law that forced the separation of investment banks from deposit-taking institutions.

Republican lawmakers have so far been unable to undo many of their most-despised pieces of the Dodd-Frank law, and many in their ranks oppose a return to Glass-Steagall.

Trump appears to be leaning toward weakening the law in a manner like what was proposed in a bill known as the CHOICE Act this northern summer by Jeb Hensarling, the Republican chairman of the US House Financial Services Committee.

ISLAMIC STATE

Trump has offered few details about his plans to fight Islamic State but has said he would "knock the hell out of" the militant group. He says he is keeping the details of his strategy a secret so as not to disclose them to the enemy. Trump said that if he won, he would give US generals 30 days after taking office on January 20 to propose their own plans.

Trump has said he opposes accepting refugees fleeing violence in Syria, and instead has said he would create "safe zones" there, which he says would be funded by Gulf states.

Obama has said a safe zone in Syria would require a large US military commitment, something that could prove unpopular with Americans weary of lengthy wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

RUSSIA

Trump has said he would have a "very, very good" relationship with Russia.

He has said he could work with Russia to combat Islamic State. He also said he would consider recognising Crimea, seized from Ukraine in 2014, as Russian territory and lifting sanctions on Russia imposed by Western nations for what they called an illegal land grab.

Trump has criticised the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, saying some US allies have not met their defence commitments. In July, he said if Russia attacked a NATO member, he would consider whether the country has paid up before providing defence.

NATO leaders say the sanctions against Russia are key to persuading it to change that country's behaviour in Ukraine, where it has backed ethnic Russian separatists, and that the alliance has long been focused on fighting international terrorism.

SUPREME COURT

With one vacancy on the Supreme Court and several more possible in the coming four years, Trump will have a chance to put a conservative stamp on the courts for decades to come.

His list of potential nominees has won praise from conservative activists and Republicans in the US Senate, who will be eager to help him in that area.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Trump has called global warming a hoax and said he wants to cancel the 2015 Paris Agreement among almost 200 nations that entered force on November 4. Instead, he says he will push ahead and develop cheap coal, shale and oil.

Trump's advisers are considering ways to bypass a theoretical four-year procedure for leaving the accord, per a source on his transition team.

What is Trump Main Goal

Republican Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to shake up Washington and as president the brash real estate mogul will be able to dramatically change how the United States handles immigration, trade and a range of other policies.

Yet many of his more ambitious proposals will require co-operation from Congress after he takes office on January. 20. While he will may enjoy a post-election honeymoon with congressional Republicans, a long-lasting romance is far from guaranteed, given his uneasy relationship with congressional leaders and some basic ideological differences he has with Republican orthodoxy.

Following is an overview of Trump's top policy plans:

TRADE

In his campaign, Trump argued that international trade agreements had hurt US workers and the country's competitiveness. He has promised to "get tough" on China and withdraw from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, which is still not finalised. As president, Trump does have some power to raise tariffs on countries such as China.

President Barack Obama's administration has suspended its efforts to win congressional approval for TPP, saying its fate was up to Trump and Republican lawmakers.

Trump has also said he would renegotiate or scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement, the 1994 free-trade deal with Mexico and Canada. Both Canada and Mexico have indicated they are willing to discuss the agreement with Trump. Canada has indicated it would consider a free-trade agreement that excludes Mexico.

Economists have warned that such moves would damage the economy by forcing consumers to pay dramatically higher prices on everything from refrigerators to T-shirts. US exports, such as aeroplanes and soybeans, would likely suffer as well.

IMMIGRATION

Trump has promised to build a wall along the Mexican border, deport millions of undocumented immigrants and ban immigration from countries that have been "compromised by terrorism".

Since his election, he has said parts could be a fence instead of a wall, and he would act to deport up to three million immigrants in the country illegally who have criminal records. It was unclear where his figure comes from. Think tank Migration Policy Institute estimated in a 2015 report there were 820,000 unauthorised immigrants with criminal records.

Those policies would not come cheap. Trump has estimated the wall would cost $US8 billion to $US12 billion ($A11 billion-$A16 billion). Other estimates have run much higher.

Politico estimated it would cost at least $US166 billion to deport all of those in the country illegally and complete a border wall. While many congressional Republicans support those policies, they might blanch at the cost.

Trump has said he would force Mexico to pay for the wall, but he has no power to force another country to spend money on something it does not want.

Trump also promised to withhold federal funds from "sanctuary cities" such as New York and Los Angeles that shield people who are in the country illegally.

More broadly, Trump could shift the broader debate over immigration, empowering sceptics like Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama who want to reduce overall immigration levels and reduce the number of skilled guest workers. That would be a blow to business groups and Hispanic advocates who have sought to relax immigration laws.

HEALTHCARE

Trump has promised to repeal President Barack Obama's signature Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, and replace it with a plan that would give states more control over the Medicaid health plan for the poor and allow insurers to sell plans nationally.

He would need Congress to act, and Republicans could have difficulty getting the 60 votes needed to advance a repeal effort through the 100-member Senate.

Republicans could face a public backlash if they repeal a law that has provided healthcare to millions of Americans who previously had no cover.

After the election, Trump said he would consider retaining parts of Obamacare, including provisions letting parents keep adult children up to age 26 on insurance policies and barring insurers from denying coverage to people with existing conditions.

TAXES AND SPENDING

Trump has vowed to make deep tax cuts, while also promising to protect popular health and retirement programs that account for more than a third of US government spending.

That combination of policies would massively increase the national debt, per the nonpartisan Center for a Responsible Budget.

He has also proposed increasing spending on the military and infrastructure, but has said he would reduce spending on categories other than health and retirement by one per cent each year.

How Entrepreneurs Save Thousand Daily

How I Saved $50,000

Larry Gadea, CEO of Envoy, San Francisco

"We make an iPad-based visitor log, so that people who arrive at an office can sign in easily. More than 2,000 companies use it, and many buy the dedicated iPad directly from us—and so, in turn, we make sure we’re buying all those iPads with our company credit card. With the mileage points we get, we’ve could book 10 international, $5,000 first-class flights to see clients in places such as the Persian Gulf since last year." —As told to Grant Davis

How I Saved $522,000

Michelle McAndrew, housing manager, RNnetwork

"As a travel nurse recruiter and placement firm, we find nurses their ideal jobs as well as good housing. We used to line up the housing ourselves, but now we use Travelers Haven, a short-term corporate housing provider with accommodations nationwide. The move saved us $305,000 in rent, which we were spending on empty apartments, and freed up more than $217,000 in cash flow by eliminating the need to pay security deposits." —As told to Grant Davis

How I Saved $1 Million

Andy Fathollahi, founder and CEO, Incipio Technologies, Orange County, Calif.

"We design and manufacture accessories for smartphones and computers, and ship 11,000 different SKUs. Shipping costs were rising, so I analyzed the expenses with the firms that warehouse and send out our products. Then, armed with my data, I worked out a deal with UPS. The results were amazing. Even though our business grew 35 percent last year, we were still able to reduce our overall freight spend by 9 percent over the previous year." —As told to Grant Davis

How I Saved $65,000

Daron Horwitz, president, Daddies Board Shop, Portland, Ore.

“We sell skateboarding and snowboarding equipment, and to ensure delivery to our online customers, we shipped product ‘signature required’ via UPS. We thought we were providing good customer service, but it just annoyed our customers. So, we eliminated that requirement, lowering our delivery costs by $3.25 per order—a big deal on 20,000 orders!” —As told to Margaret Littman

How I Saved $450,000

Scott Slater, founder, Slater’s 50/50, Orange County, Calif.

“We’re a restaurant, and our core is burgers, bacon, and beer. We wanted to speed up our kitchen by simplifying our menu, so we went item by item, looking at sales and prep time and whether an ingredient only appeared on one dish. If it did, it was cut. The process took about three months, and in the first year after, we increased earnings by 7.5 percent.” —As told to Margaret Littman

How I Saved $205,200

Rachel Stelter, brand director, Winc, Los Angeles

“Wine-bottle necks are often covered in a wrap; the industry calls it a capsule. Capsules are made of polyethylene and aluminum, which is hard to recycle. They are also unnecessary for table wines that will be consumed relatively soon. So, starting in June this year, we got rid of those capsules on 90 percent of our wines, saving us $.04 to $.06 off the cost of each bottle.” —As told to Margaret Littman

How Entrepreneur Save Thousands

How I Saved $12,000

Daniel Goetz, CEO, GoodPop, Austin

"To introduce GoodPops to new grocery stores around the country, we had to ship them samples—not a cheap task for a frozen dessert product, especially on our bare-bones startup budget. At first, we were shipping the pops overnight to keep them cold and ensure they arrived in good shape for buyers. An overnight shipment with dry ice costs $200, and that added up. So, we decided to ship all our samples via ground on Mondays packed with extra dry ice. Thus, we saved $12,000 last year." —As told to Grant Davis

How I Saved $60,000

Daniel Guigui, principal, Down Décor, Cincinnati, Ohio

"We’d been in our building for years and weren’t looking to move, but a real-estate investor made an offer on it that we couldn’t refuse. We’re glad he did, because we quickly found a bank-owned property that was newer than our old facility anyway—and cheap. Between the money we made on the sale and the low cost of the new building, we could rebuild our plant with new, more efficient machinery. And after a year of running our new equipment in the new building—which isn’t drafty like our old one—we found that our annual utility bills dropped by $60,000. We saved $10,000 in one winter month alone!" —as told to Grant Davis 

How I Saved $9,000

Peter Spenuzza, CEO of Rise Bar, Irvine, Calif. 

"One of our employees was concerned about the stability and security of our main computer system, which we use to enter and ship orders. So, she worked through her professional network to find a highly recommended company that could scale with us, offered us better service and more security—and was $6,000 a year cheaper than our current provider. We switched, and business picked up. Inspired, we then considered ways to cut shipping costs, and switched to the U.S. Postal Service. In the first four months with them, we saved more than $3,000." —As told to Grant Davis 

How I Saved $16,000

David Maurice and Natalie Lam, Cofounders of The Foxgrove, Brooklyn, N.Y.

"We’re an electronic music and DJ school, and we dreamed of setting up two large, gorgeous tables made of walnut or oak—a simple, beautiful space where musicians can create. But, whoa, wood is expensive! Two six-person tables would cost us $20,000. As we considered other options, we stumbled upon a pile of 100-year-old white cedar on our block. It was salvaged from a discarded water tower and headed for the landfill. We asked if we could take it, then we found a carpenter to fashion it into the tables…for only $4,000." —As told to Grant Davis

How I Saved $113,000

Andy Wexler, CEO of Pali Mountain, Running Springs, Calif.

"We run extreme-sports summer camps, outdoor education programs and conferences—and have very low insurance claims. So, three years ago, we joined a casualty insurance group. It’s a bunch of companies with low workers-compensation and auto-insurance losses that band together to insure themselves. Our insurance policy cost is still about the same, but now unused loss funds are eventually returned—with interest! That cash adds up fast." —As told to Grant Davis

11 Languages Add To BBC

The BBC World Service will begin broadcasting in 11 additional languages in a drive to reach millions more people, including in places like North Korea where impartial news is hard to get.

The World Service started out in 1932 as a radio channel for English-speakers in the British empire but has morphed over time into a respected provider of news to global audiences. It already broadcasts in 29 languages, reaching an estimated 246 million people around the world every week.

The additional African languages will be Afaan Oromo and Amharic, spoken in Ethiopia and other countries, Tigrinya, the main language of Eritrea, and Nigerian languages Igbo, Yoruba and Pidgin, also spoken in other West African countries.

The World Service will also add Indian languages Gujarati, Marathi and Telugu, as well as Punjabi which is widely spoken in Pakistan and parts of India, and Korean, spoken in both Normth and South Korea.

The expansion will mean more journalists on the ground in locations around the world.

The BBC will also extend its news bulletins in Russian, with regionalised versions for surrounding countries, and add regional programing in Arabic and short-wave and medium-wave radio programs aimed at audiences in the Korean peninsula.