When Donald Trump visited Detroit on Monday to unveil his economic vision for the US, the Republican presidential nominee held the Rust Belt city up as a bastion of failed Democratic party policies, calling it a “living, breathing example of my opponent’s failed economic agenda”.

“Detroit is still waiting for Hillary Clinton’s apology,” Trump said in a nearly hourlong speech before the business-friendly Detroit Economic Club.

But in a town that has consistently voted for the Democrats, Trump will be hard-pressed to find support, warned residents and business owners.



“If he really knew, like, the politics of Detroit, for example, a lot of the failed policies were Republican, like the schools,” said Alyson Turner, of Source Booksellers, a nonfiction bookstore located outside of downtown Detroit. Turner said the appointment by Republican governor Rick Snyder of several emergency managers to take over operations of the Detroit public school system has led to disastrous effects. Teachers this year, for example, have staged large-scale protests in light of the possibility they might work without pay.

Turner’s mother and Source owner, Janet Webster Jones, pointed to the expansion of US highways under President Eisenhower as another Republican policy with a major impact on the city. Among the litany of problems that led Detroit into fiscal uncertainty and, eventually, a massive municipal bankruptcy, the highway system in metro Detroit is viewed by researchers as having helped accelerate white flight – in turn, decimating the city’s tax base.

The highway act “tore up the city of Detroit”, Jones said.

Trump may have delivered his remarks before a welcoming crowd on Monday. But the candidate was interrupted by protesters more than a dozen times, a notable reminder of the multiple derailments along the way of his unconventional campaign.

The speech focused heavily on points Trump has proposed in the past: support for the controversial Keystone pipeline, an effort to slash taxes and a pitch to relax regulations for businesses. A new proposal he offered included a temporary moratorium on federal regulations, though it’s unclear to what extent how it would function.

Trump said he wanted to reduce income tax brackets for individuals from seven levels to three – of 12%, 25% and 33% – and eliminate income taxes for individuals who earn less than $25,000 annually. It marked a shift from last fall, when Trump proposed four brackets that would pay 0%, 10%, 20% and 25%. He suggested his tax reform would bring about the “biggest tax revolution” since the Reagan era.

“We will make America grow again,” Trump said, riffing on his campaign’s tagline.

Trump reiterated his staunch opposition to trade deals proposed and enacted under the administrations of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

“Trade has big benefits, and I am in favor of trade,” he said. “But I want great trade deals for our country that create more jobs and higher wages for American workers.”

Turner conceded that Trump struck a chord among the working class on trade. She said the North American Free Trade Agreement, enacted under former president Bill Clinton, “hurt us, a lot”.

[Candidates] want to say I’m gonna bring Detroit back ... Hell, a dog could get up there and say the same thing Jason Clay, native of Detroit

Nonetheless, Jones doesn’t expect Trump’s brash persona and harsh rhetoric to resonate with residents of Detroit, where more than 97% of voters cast a ballot for Barack Obama in 2012 and where the past six mayors have been Democrats.

“I don’t think he has his pulse on the information,” Jones said.

“People who are grassroots or people who own business from the bottom up, he doesn’t have any clue about it.”

“I very much resent Trump’s bullying behavior,” she continued. “He’s not a good example for me or for young people.”

Other residents in the city also said it’s hard to take Trump seriously. Waiting at a bus stop for a ride home, Jason Clay said his campaign “seems too fake”.

“He’s just saying stuff just to say some things,” Clay said. “OK, if you’re going to do it, show us. You could say anything. Hell, I could say I’m going to be the next pope, but until I make an example and say this is my goal, this is why I’m going to do it, all it is is just a bunch of words.”

And Trump’s rhetoric about Detroit on Monday came off more as pandering than anything, he said.

“[Candidates] want ... to say I’m gonna help bring Detroit back,” Clay said. “That’s for … people who don’t have nothing to follow and will follow anything. Hell, a dog could get up there and say the same thing.”

Anti-Trump demonstrators outside the Detroit Economic Club. Photograph: Paul Sancya/AP

Clay, a native Detroiter who works as a driver for Meals on Wheels, said he’s likely to support Hillary Clinton. “It’s not like we have much of a choice,” he said.

Jose Rosario, a retired veteran who lives in south-west Detroit, said Trump’s rhetoric on Mexicans and Muslims doesn’t reflect values of the US.

“This is the country of the free,” he said. “This country was made by immigrants … We’re supposed to love and care for each other. It’s like when you go to war, you don’t choose who’s next to you.”

Asked if he believes Trump on his policy proposals, Rosario demurred.

“Hell no, I don’t believe him,” he said. “He says Hillary lies, look at how many times he lied.

“He can’t be president, he doesn’t have [any] common sense,” Rosario continued. “I’ve got a six-year-old grandson who’s got more common sense than he does.”