Donald Trump has recently claimed that he needs to “save” St. Louis. The reality? He doesn’t, and he couldn’t if he tried.
This isn’t to say that St. Louis doesn’t deserve investment or revitalization – it does. But specifically, Donald Trump, a man who has historically described struggling cities as “war zones” where people can’t take care of their own neighborhoods, isn’t the answer. His playbook has always been about real estate deals, not community building. And in St. Louis, that exact mindset is already part of the problem.
Top Three Takeaways from the Article:
Donald Trump can’t “save” St. Louis – his real estate background makes him part of the same problem as developers like Paul McKee.
Speculative landowners drain communities by hoarding properties, misusing taxpayer-funded incentives, and leaving neighborhoods without access to housing, food, or healthcare.
Real solutions require community investment, not military force – access to basic needs and infrastructure is what actually reduces crime and supports thriving cities.
The Paul McKee Problem
In North St. Louis, much of the blight isn’t caused by residents but by Northside Regeneration LLC, a company owned by developer Paul McKee. McKee has purchased huge numbers of affordable homes, let them deteriorate, and left them vacant. That deprives neighborhoods of affordable housing – one of the most basic human needs tied directly to reducing crime.
It doesn’t stop there. McKee also built the Greenleaf grocery store, a project supposedly designed to fix a food desert. But the store has never actually opened. Worse, it was built using Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and other tax incentives, meaning taxpayer money funded a building that does nothing for the community. On paper, it looks like there’s a grocery store. In practice, residents are still left without access to food.
And then there’s the empty hospital – another McKee-owned property, also sitting idle despite being built with public money.
How the Game Works
Developers like McKee exploit tax breaks and incentives meant to support growth. But instead of building thriving communities, they hoard property, let it rot, and cash in on subsidies. Paying minimal fines each year is just a cost of doing business when you’re pocketing millions in tax breaks.
This cycle doesn’t just slow down revitalization – it actively destroys neighborhoods. It blocks access to shelter, food, healthcare, and infrastructure, the very resources communities need to thrive.
Trump’s False Promise
So when Donald Trump talks about “saving” St. Louis, what does he mean? He’s not talking about community programs, after-school opportunities, or rebuilding trust between residents and institutions. He’s talking about sending in the National Guard. But soldiers can’t create jobs, stock grocery shelves, or provide healthcare. At best, they enforce order. At worst, they criminalize poverty and homelessness.
The truth is, St. Louis doesn’t need Donald Trump – or any other real estate tycoon – to “save” it. What it needs is for predatory land speculation to stop draining the life out of its neighborhoods. Communities thrive when people have food, shelter, healthcare, and space to connect. And those things can’t be delivered by billionaires with bulldozers or presidents with tanks.
Donald Trump’s rhetoric about saving cities like St. Louis is empty. If anything, his own background as a real estate mogul puts him closer in spirit to Paul McKee than to the residents who actually live there. Real solutions won’t come from more top-down control but from giving communities the resources – and freedom – to save themselves.