If you pull back from the entertainment and the salty rhetoric and just stick to policy, Donald Trump is the most libertarian candidate still running for president.
Despite critics who label the billionaire a statist and a fascist — on foreign policy, the military-industrial complex, medical marijuana, auditing the Federal Reserve, and bringing back the gold standard, Trump is closer to Ron Paul than he is to Dick Cheney.
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On March 21, Trump revealed part of the Trump Doctrine to the Washington Post. The Republican front-runner insisted that America needed a lighter footprint around the world, no nation building, and reduced NATO spending.
He said that under his administration, nations like South Korea and Japan would have to start protecting their own countries instead of American taxpayers.
Domestically, Trump also has libertarian-leaning policy preferences. In a GQ video interview, the billionaire said he would support medical marijuana and the gold standard.
“Legalized marijuana is always a very difficult question,” Trump told GQ. “For medical purposes, absolutely it’s fine.”
“Bringing back the gold standard would be very hard to do, but boy, would it be wonderful,” the billionaire continued.
Trump also agreed with Paul on the importance of auditing the Federal Reserve. He has even used the position against Sen. Ted Cruz, who missed a key vote on auditing the Fed.
It is so important to audit The Federal Reserve, and yet Ted Cruz missed the vote on the bill that would allow this to be done.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2016
