Donald Trump announces economic advisory team

DES MOINES, Iowa — Donald Trump has announced his team of economic advisers, a group that includes many of the people already helping his campaign.

It includes John Paulson, a hedge fund billionaire who made his fortune betting against subprime mortgages as the American economy headed toward collapse in 2007; Tom Barrack, a real estate investor and close friend of Trump who has been raising money for a super PAC supporting the billionaire candidate, and Steven Mnuchin, a New York investor who is Trump’s national finance chairman.

The team is being led by Trump’s national policy director, Stephen Miller, along with Dan Kowalski, a former staffer on the Senate Budget Committee.

But the list is as notable for who is not on it as who is: It is comprised solely of men, with no women — just like the campaign’s public list of foreign policy advisers. It also excludes many prominent Republican economists who have advised past candidates.

Trump’s announcement Friday came as the government reported that U.S. employers added a healthy 255,000 jobs last month. That could bolster Democrat Hillary Clinton’s claim that the state of the U.S. economy under President Barack Obama is not nearly as dire as described by Trump.

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On Monday, Trump will deliver an economic speech in Detroit focusing on “empowering Americans by freeing up the necessary tools for everyone to gain economically,” the campaign said.

Trump has faced criticism from Clinton over his reluctance to provide detailed policy proposals. He released a tax plan in September that proposed cutting rates across the board and reducing the amount paid by the wealthiest Americans and corporations. Analysts, however, said it would disproportionately benefit the wealthy and dramatically boost America’s debt, despite Trump’s assurances to the contrary.

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Associated Press writer Paul Wiseman in Washington contributed to this report.

Jill Colvin, The Associated Press