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If there’s one thing Donald Trump wants Americans to understand, it’s that he knows how to build.
At a Pennsylvania petrochemical plant in 2019, he told workers, “I was a good builder. I built well. I love building.” Speaking to reporters in the spring: “What I do best in life is to build.” During last year’s Kennedy Center Honors, Trump joked that he has “two jobs” — the second being, naturally, construction.
Even as past ventures have collapsed, Trump continues to cast himself as the kind of big developer who blasts through red tape and never takes no for an answer. This is the president who once wowed voters by promising to build a “big, beautiful” wall on the southern border. Who, he argued in the 2016 campaign, had the best chance of making it happen? In his second term, he has focused on reshaping the environment of Washington, DC, in his own image.
But earlier this week, Trump indicated he is willing to delay construction of something Americans have made clear they need. On Tuesday, lawmakers passed the largest housing bill in a generation, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. Sponsored by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tim Scott, it is a bipartisan group of reforms intended to encourage development and lower prices. Trump needs a win; Currently, most Americans do not agree with the president’s handling of the economy. But on Wednesday, Trump abruptly canceled the signing ceremony for the bill. It will remain canceled, he he wrote on Social Reality, until Congress passes the SAVE America Act, an entirely unrelated and highly controversial voter ID law. (He calls it his “No. 1 priority” ahead of the midterm elections.)
The stalled bill targets a major national concern. About a three of American households spend more than a third of their income on rent and housing, and nearly four out of five voters identify the cost of housing as a very important or very important issue. That Trump stalled the signing shows he’s willing to use the bipartisan bill as a bailout—even if it means sacrificing the promise of affordable housing for Americans. Although the measure is within its procedural rights, it is also toothless: Because the bill has passed both the House and the Senate, it becomes law within 10 days with or without the president’s signature. And even if Trump decides to veto it, Congress (without changing suddenly) has the supermajority needed to override a veto. Furthermore, the president cannot unilaterally force the passage of the SAVE America Act, which faces strong opposition from Democrats.
Calculate the level of housing crisis in the country difficult (some analysts think the US is short of 6 million units, while others think the number is closer to 2 million), but experts tend to agree that building more homes in high-need areas would help. The ROADS to Housing Act is not a panacea, and many of its recommendations will take some time to come into effect. But by fast-tracking environmental reviews and urging lawmakers to loosen zoning restrictions, among other proposals, the bill aims to encourage new construction.
Trump has given a mixed message on housing affordability in his second term. The White House’s press release has recently cited an increase in the housing supply, and Trump issued an executive order in March directing agencies to loosen regulatory restrictions on housing construction. His push for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy mortgage bonds turned out to have a lasting effect on rates. But recently, the president’s own comments have focused on the needs of existing homeowners. “I don’t want to lower housing prices; I want to increase housing prices for people who own their homes,” he said earlier this year. Homeowners certainly want their investments protected, but the housing bill’s incentives for developers to build won’t automatically reduce the value of all American homes. And in some cases, encouraging more construction can promote economic growth and increase the value of the land in the long run.
Although the administration has taken steps to deal with the housing problem, its efforts have sometimes been misdirected. In an attempt to protect individual homeowners (known as mom-and-pop owners), who currently dominate the real estate market, Trump issued a executive order in January aimed at curbing the influence of institutional investors—a vague umbrella term for some big companies. Parts of the house bill support this idea. But, like mine colleagues to have he explainedFears about the impact of institutional purchases on house prices seem to be increasing. Although the landlords of large companies keep the truth problem in some communities (corporations are more likely to evict tenants, and may neglect maintenance and upkeep), institutional investors own. less than 1 percent of single-family homes across the country.
Whether Trump is a “good” builder is a better question architecture criticsand maybe to him creditors. But it is undeniable that he builds. With his proposed triumphal arch, his renovation of the Reflecting Pool, and his renovation of the White House, he has tried to reshape the seat of government around his aesthetic preferences. His recent presidential library, which can also be a hotelit can completely change the atmosphere of Miami.
The ROADS to Housing Act could still be a victory for this administration—and the president can even claim credit for efforts to make housing more affordable. But he has not yet proven to the American people that he will build for them, and not just him.
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Today’s news
- United States attacked Iran’s missile storage sites with drones in response to an Iranian drone attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday.
- John Bolton, former adviser to President Trump and author of a book criticizing him, he pleaded guilty on charges of illegally storing classified information.
- Judge declared the criminal in a case against a person accused of committing an act of arson that later became the Palisades Fire; State prosecutors said they would respond to him again.
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