WASHINGTON, D.C. — Donald Trump unveiled his economic policy team on Friday.
Perhaps not surprising given his profession, the Republican candidate for U.S. president tapped several real estate and private equity executives to help shape his economic policy.
Trump’s economic team will include Howard Lorber, chairman of Douglas Elliman, and Steve Roth, head of Vornado Realty Trust. Tom Barrack, founder of Colony Capital, Steve Feinberg, co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management and Steven Mnuchin, CEO of Dune Capital Management, are also on the team.
Mnuchin has double-duty as the Trump campaign’s national finance chairman.
Finance execs on the team with ties to real estate include hedge fund manager John Paulson and Federal Savings Bank CEO Stephen Calk.
It would be hoped by the commercial real estate industry that such a strong showing of kindred executives would translate into favorable policy. And, in fact, this could well be the case as more details about his proposed policies unfold. Today, for instance, Trump will make a major speech about his proposed economic policies in Detroit.
All that said, though, one can’t help but note that Trump’s immense popularity among the Republican base is due in part to his championship of populist issues. Some of these issues are not relevant to the CRE industry; some, though, very much are.
One example is the issue of carried interest. Trump has repeatedly said he would do away with the loophole.
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