In the last week, President Donald Trump has authorized and promoted a military occupation of one of the largest cities in the world, Los Angeles, in an attempt to squash protests against his unconstitutional mass deportations.
The action against Los Angeles reflects longstanding conservative disdain for U.S. cities, despite their pivotal role in the nation’s cultural and economic development.
The right really hates cities
Since becoming a political figure, Trump has had few positive things to say about cities. During the 2024 election cycle, he argued that the “whole country will end up being like Detroit” if Vice President Kamala Harris won.
“I think Detroit and some of our areas makes us a developing nation,” Trump said.
He also said that Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is “ravaged by bloodshed and crime” and described Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as “horrible” right before the city hosted the 2024 Republican National Convention.
And when Trump first ran for president in 2016, he blatantly lied by insisting that “inner city crime is reaching record levels.”
Senior Trump administration officials have echoed this anti-city rhetoric. MTV reality show contestant-turned-Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has expressed fear of the New York City Subway system, which is used every day by millions of city-dwelling Americans without incident.
Similarly, when Homeland Security Kristi Noem isn’t busy cosplaying in anti-immigration photo shoots, she’s expressing her disdain for U.S. cities like Los Angeles, which she’s referred to as a “city of criminals.”
The anti-city rhetoric goes back decades within the Republican Party. President Ronald Reagan frequently invoked the myth of the “welfare queen,” basing his racist rant—which was later significantly debunked—on the purported exploits of a Black woman from Chicago, one of the right’s favorite targets.
Reagan was also criticized during his presidency by Chicago’s Mayor Harold Washington for having “declared war” on cities by slashing federal funding for services vital to those regions of the country.
Why are Republicans like this?
U.S. cities are a success story.
They’re racially diverse melting pots that have become meccas for art, culture, and commerce that have spread U.S. values and influence around the world. Even in extremely remote areas, people know about life in places like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, and beyond.
On paper, Republicans should like American cities—they are economic powerhouses, pumping billions every year into the economy and powering global businesses. This provides revenues that significantly help to subsidize life in more rural, Republican-leaning areas.
For Republicans to praise cities—which are the most Democratic areas in the United States, even in red states like Texas— they would have to acknowledge the success of liberal approaches to cultural integration and business.
Instead, the party and its leaders would rather go on the attack.
Republicans love city amenities
The ire from the GOP is especially strange given its current leadership. Trump is not a product of rural America or even the red part of a blue state. He is a consummate New Yorker who built a name for himself with lurid headlines on the front pages of New York City tabloids.
In a similar fashion, the leading conservative propaganda outlet, Fox News, is not headquartered in a rustic small town in “flyover” country. No, Fox News headquarters are situated in the heart of Manhattan.
Ironically, even as they rail against blue state values, Fox News hosts, reporters, anchors, and pundits are enjoying the benefits of city life at the highest end of the economic spectrum.
Attacking cities is a useful, coded way for Republicans to demonize areas with significant minority communities. That way, they can pull attention away from how right-wing policies hurt red states and instead focus on made-up boogeymen.
The GOP has found a way to have its cake and eat it, too. But Republicans’ cynicism is now raising temperatures to a dangerous level that could lead to an even more dangerous situation—for cities, suburbs, rural areas, and everything in between.
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