Former President Donald Trump announced a new plan to protect America’s suburbs from what he describes as a “Marxist crusade” by former President Barack Obama and his policies aimed at diversifying suburban neighborhoods.
Speaking at a rally in Tucson, Arizona, Trump outlined his commitment to preserving single-family zoning and halting efforts by the left to introduce more low-income housing into suburban areas.
During the rally, Trump declared: “I will save America’s suburbs by protecting single-family zoning. The radical left wants to abolish the suburbs by forcing apartment complexes and low-income housing into communities nationwide. I will put an end to this Marxist crusade, stop Washington’s assault on American communities, and ensure that the suburbs remain safe and beautiful.”
Trump’s remarks follow years of political debate over housing policies introduced during the Obama administration.
2013, Obama initiated regulations to encourage suburban neighborhoods to build more public housing, with the goal of promoting racial and ethnic diversity.
The regulations, part of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, were aimed at wealthier communities that had little history of housing discrimination but were encouraged to develop more affordable housing options to diversify their population.
According to Stanley Kurtz, a conservative commentator and author, the primary objective of these rules was to impose greater racial and ethnic diversity on suburban communities, potentially altering the character of these areas.
In 2015, the Obama administration strengthened these regulations, tying federal housing grants to the construction of affordable housing in affluent suburbs.
Trump has been a vocal critic of these policies, arguing that they threaten the suburban way of life. During his presidency, he worked to roll back some of the Obama-era regulations related to housing, viewing them as an overreach by the federal government into local zoning decisions.
Kurtz further argued that the Biden administration, building on Obama’s legacy, has taken these housing policies even further.
Biden has supported measures, including those championed by Senator Cory Booker, to end single-family zoning in suburban areas and encourage the creation of mixed-use, affordable housing developments—what some refer to as “little downtowns.”
Kurtz and other critics fear that such policies could strip suburbs of local control and force a more urban-style living arrangement on communities that prefer a different way of life.
Trump and his supporters have framed this issue as part of a broader ideological struggle, linking these housing policies to Marxist principles.
Specifically, they point to one of the ten points in Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ Communist Manifesto, which calls for the abolition of the distinction between rural and urban living through the distribution of the population across the country.
Trump argues that the push for affordable housing in suburban areas is part of a leftist agenda to reshape America’s social fabric.
According to Trump, the ongoing fight to preserve suburban zoning laws is a critical part of his broader mission to protect the nation from what he perceives as the influence of Marxism.
This stance is a key theme in his continued political messaging as he seeks to rally support from suburban voters, a demographic that played a significant role in the 2020 election.
For Trump, housing policies represent more than just local zoning issues; they are emblematic of a larger cultural and ideological battle.
“That’s why they hate him,” his supporters argue, framing Trump’s resistance to these policies as part of his effort to safeguard America’s traditions and values.
