Trump’s next HUD secretary would have a lot to do to address the history of racist housing policy – and Trump’s own comments and history suggest that’s unlikely

Civil rights marchers protest housing discrimination in Chicago on Aug. 2, 1966. AP Photo by Colin Gordon, University of Iowa Donald Trump has picked former football player Scott Turner to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. While not much is known about Turner’s positions as he awaits confirmation by the Senate, Trump’s selection draws attention to the incoming administration’s housing policies. Those policies, evident in both the first Trump presidency and in comments made during the campaign, suggest an abiding faith in the private sector and local government. And they are likely to include deregulation and tax breaks for investment in distressed areas. They also show a disdain for federal fair housing programs. These programs, Trump said on the campaign trail in 2020, are “bringing who knows into your suburbs, so your communities will be unsafe and your housing values will go down.” ‘Inharmonious neighbors’ In his September 2024 debate with Kamala Harris, Trump responded to a question on immigration by amplifying the discredited rumor that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were “eating the pets of the people that live there.” “This is what’s happening in our country,” he added, “and it’s a shame.” As a historian of...