Trump proposes building futuristic, ‘freedom cities’ on federal land

Former President Donald Trump on Friday proposed holding a contest to design and build up to 10 new “freedom cities” on federal land that the 2024 presidential candidate argues will lead to “a quantum leap in the American standard of living.”

“Today, our country has lost its boldness. under my leadership, we will get it back in a very big way,” Trump, 76, said in a video released Friday outlining his vision of futuristic cities sprouting up in rural parts of the country, complete with flying cars. 

The former president and real estate developer said “just a fraction, one half of 1%” of land owned by the federal government would be needed to build these new cities. 

“We should hold a contest to charter up to 10 new cities and award them to the best proposals for development,” Trump said. 

“These freedom cities will reopen the frontier, reignite American imagination, and give hundreds of thousands of young people and other people, all hardworking families, a new shot at homeownership,” he added. 

In the four-minute-long video, the former president also called for US companies to lead the “revolution in air mobility” and develop “vertical takeoff and landing vehicles for families and individuals.”

“Just as the United States led the automotive revolution of the last century, I want to ensure that America, not China, leads this revolution in air mobility,” Trump said, vowing that under a new Trump administration he would turn “forgotten communities into hives of industry, producing the goods we will no longer import from China.”

Under his new plan, which was light on details, the former president also said he would ask Congress to pass legislation giving “baby bonuses” to new parents in an effort to “launch a new baby boom,” and spearhead a “great modernization and beautification campaign” that would involve knocking down “ugly buildings” and reconditioning parks and public spaces. 

Trump added that he would build “towering monuments to our true American heroes.”

A recent WPA Intelligence survey found that 31% of Republicans call Trump their top choice for president, compared to 40% of Republican primary voters nationwide who say Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is their preferred candidate. 

Trump is slated to deliver a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland on Saturday.