Trump Attacks a Suburban Housing Program. Critics See a Play for White Votes.

New York Times logoProponents of the policy saw the move as an attempt to shore up the president’s sagging support among white suburban voters by stoking racial division.

WASHINGTON — President Trump has taken aim at an Obama-era program intended to eliminate racial housing disparities in the suburbs, a move proponents of the policy see as an attempt to shore up his sagging support among white suburban voters by stoking racial division.

In a Twitter post late Tuesday, Mr. Trump announced that he was considering the elimination of a 2015 initiative known as Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, which requires localities to identify and address patterns of racial segregation outlawed under the Fair Housing Act of 1968 by creating detailed corrective plans.

“At the request of many great Americans who live in the Suburbs, and others, I am studying the AFFH housing regulation that is having a devastating impact on these once thriving Suburban areas,” he wrote, adding, “Not fair to homeowners, I may END!” Continue reading.