Baltimore Sun Op-ed, 2016: Trump’s Right: Declare Baltimore a ‘Disaster’ and Rebuild It

The Baltimore Sun published an op-ed on Nov. 9, 2016 — the day Donald Trump was declared the winner of the 2016 presidential election — in which the author called for Baltimore to be declared a disaster, and rebuilt.

The op-ed, by Sean Kennedy, reads in part:

Donald J. Trump is known for his hyperbole, but not all of his ideas are a stretch. Our inner cities are a “disaster,” as he said in the final presidential debate — and they should be officially declared so.

Mr. Trump said on the campaign trail that he would “empower cities and states to seek a federal disaster designation for blighted communities in order to initiate the rebuilding of vital infrastructure, the demolition of abandoned properties and the increased presence of law enforcement.” Now that he’s captured the presidency, let’s hope he follows through.

The idea is radical, revolutionary and just what urban America needs: a federal disaster declaration for our most impoverished neighborhoods hard hit by crime, urban blight and economic malaise.
When the president declares an area to be a disaster, additional federal assistance can be applied while regulations and rules for rebuilding and revitalizing the affected area are often waived or reduced.

…

Declaring our most beleaguered neighborhoods to be “disaster zones” and encouraging entrepreneurial activities through access to capital and microloans would inject capital, expedite much needed infrastructure and give our inner cities hope again.

Read the full op-ed here (subscription may be required).

The media and Democrats have called President Donald Trump’s recent criticisms of House Oversight Committee chair Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) racist because they refer to Baltimore’s blight.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He earned an A.B. in Social Studies and Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.