Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Wednesday that he was open to raising the federal minimum wage, breaking with the prevailing view of his party.
“I’m actually looking at that because I am very different from most Republicans,” Mr. Trump said in an interview on CNN’s. “You have to have something that you can live on.”
Mr. Trump has locked up the nomination despite repeatedly breaking with Republican orthodoxy on issues ranging from abortion to trade.
The billionaire businessman said he was studying the minimum wage issue and did not know if the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour should be raised to the $15 per hour “living wage” advocated by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernard Sanders.
Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee, has said that the federal minimum wage should be raised to as much as $12 per hour.
Mr. Trump said he didn’t want to tinker too much with the minimum wage because it would hurt “competitiveness.”
“What I really want is to bring jobs back so they make more that $15 an hour,” said the New York tycoon.
Mr. Trump also predicted that he would win over supporters currently backing Mr. Sanders, a Vermont independent and self-described democratic socialist who has led a insurgent movement of young voters dissatisfied with the political system.
“I’m going to get a lot of his supporters,” said Mr. Trump.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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